A new UN report on Catholic sex crisis issued Friday

For immediate release Thursday May 21, 2014

Statement by Barbara Blaine, SNAP President, [email protected], +1 312-455-1499 (office), +1 312-399-4747 (cell)

On Friday, a second United Nations panel will release a new report that looks at Catholic officials’ handling of rape and sexual violence by clergy. This time, the UN Committee Against Torture will issue its findings as to whether Catholic officials are violation of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment.

But it has now been 12 weeks since another United Nations panel released a lengthy report about the church's on-going clergy sexual violence and cover up crisis. That panel made 22 recommendations on how Vatican officials can better implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

As best we can tell, every Catholic official is ignoring every one of those recommendations. That is shameful.

We expect on Friday, when the U.N. Committee Against Torture issues its new report, that apologists for the Catholic hierarchy will question the panel's judgment, perhaps even its motives. We hope we are wrong.

But if that happens, we hope citizens and Catholics will look at these claims by church officials with great skepticism. The Catholic hierarchy has long tried to evade responsibility for and deflect attention from its long-standing and devastating wrongdoing by attacking those who expose clergy sexual violence and cover ups.

http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/VAT/CRC_C_VAT_CO_2_16302_E.pdf

The Committee Against Torture questioned Vatican officials earlier this month about widespread sexual violence.

http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/un-committee-against-torture-asks-vatican-about-sex-abuse-scandal

Its findings will be released in Geneva on Friday at 8:00 a.m. (eastern standard time)

http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CAT/Shared%20Documents/1_Global/INT_CAT_POW_52_21968_E.pdf

The Committee for the Rights of the Child questioned Vatican officials about widespread sexual violence in January. Its findings were released in February.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26044852

Vatican officials attacked the CRC but claimed they would "study" its findings.

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/world-news/5/1505/0/un-condemns-holy-see-over-sex-abuse

http://www.news.va/en/news/holy-see-responds-to-un-committee-on-rights-of-the

http://jurist.org/paperchase/2014/02/un-report-condemns-vatican-over-child-abuse.php

There has not been a peep, however, from even a single Catholic official over the past 12 weeks about adopting even one of the CRC's recommendations.

So for the safety of children, we hope Vatican officials will take action soon on the recommendations of both panels.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 25 years and have more than 15,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org) 

Contact - David Clohessy (+1 314-566-9790 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Dorris (+1 314-862-7688 home, + 1314-503-0003 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Blaine (+ 312-399-4747 cell, +1 312 455 1499 office, [email protected]) and Mary Caplan (+1 917 439 4187 [email protected])