John Heilprin of the Associated Press played up how the Catholic Church supposedly “sought to limit its responsibility for the global priest sex abuse scandal” in front of a United Nations committee on torture. Heilprin repeatedly underlined how the Holy See underwent a “grilling” by the UN panel for allegedly violating an “international treaty against torture and inhuman treatment” in its handling of the scandal.
However, the correspondent glossed over the committee’s ideologically-tinged slam of the Church’s longstanding stance against abortion, which it labeled “psychological torture.” By contrast, Reuters’ Philip Pullella and Stephanie Nebehay mentioned this attack near the end of their Monday report on the meeting:
Church groups defended the Catholic Church’s efforts to stem abuse and criticized committee members who said the Church’s opposition to abortion had harmed women.
“Attacking the Church’s moral and religious beliefs violates the religious liberty of the Church, a human right which the United Nations affirms,” said Ashley McGuire of Catholic Voices.
