VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Appearing before a U.N. committee monitoring adherence to an international treaty designed to fight torture, Vatican officials repeatedly were asked about efforts to investigate allegations of clerical sexual abuse, punish offenders and cooperate with civil authorities in prosecuting the perpetrators. Archbishop…
The Vatican is bracing for a blistering session this week before the U.N. Committee Against Torture, which is expected to address the Holy See’s handling of its churchwide sexual abuse scandal and its infringement on human rights. The Rev. Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, warned against…
The leadership of the Roman Catholic church faces a fresh grilling by UN human rights observers on Monday as a delegation from the Holy See makes its debut appearance before the Committee Against Torture (CAT) in Geneva. Three months after the Vatican railed against the…
The United Nations Committee Against Torture is calling upon a holy subject to testify and defend themselves against claims of human rights abuse — the Vatican. The UN torture panel is investigating the Vatican’s alleged role in doing little to prevent regimes that flagrantly abused…
Ahead of what’s likely to be another grilling tomorrow by United Nations officials over child sexual abuse, as well as matters such as abortion and homosexuality, the Vatican’s senior envoy in Geneva is projecting bravado. “We can take a few knocks, especially for the sake…
On Monday in Geneva, the United Nations Committee Against Torture will consider the Holy See’s initial report relating to its compliance with the Convention Against Torture or Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Though focusing significantly on the tragic and, in the words…
As Vatican representatives prepare to testify before a United Nations inquiry into torture next week, a senior official warned investigators that it would be “deceptive” to link torture with the pedophilia scandals that have swept the Catholic Church. The Vatican’s chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico…
Ahead of a report to the U.N. on an anti-torture agreement next week, the Holy See has emphasized its commitment against torture, and warned against the hearing being reduced to a “tool of ideological pressure.” “The Holy See also proposes important teaching with regard to…
For the past several days in the Eternal City, I’ve watched as people with varying degrees of interest and devotion stream in and out of St. Peter’s Square. The pope fascinates them by joy, by beauty. Whether or not all realize that Christ and Church…
When the late Popes John XXIII and John Paul II are declared saints on Sunday, the Vatican ceremony will be both a spiritual event for Roman Catholicism and a lesson in the subtle politics of the world’s largest church. Most of the world’s 1.2 billion…
