During hearings that one participant described as “surreal,” United Nations representatives today suggested that the Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion in the case of rape and incest constitute a violation of the UN Charter Against Torture. The Vatican was called before a two-day hearing in…
Leaders of the Catholic Church face another public grilling over the global scandal of child sex abuse by priests, with a UN panel meeting in Geneva on Monday and Tuesday expected to examine the church’s record on preventing torture. This comes three months after another…
Vatican officials appeared Monday before the United Nations Committee on Torture to discuss the sexual abuse of children by priests, claiming the Holy See lacks juridical power to combat the problem on an international basis. “It should be stressed, particularly in light of much confusion,…
VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican’s ambassador to U.N. agencies in Geneva sought to limit the Holy See’s legal responsibility for the abuse scandal, implying that the church’s jurisdiction did not extend to dioceses and churches around the world. Read more here.
Insinuations at a U.N. committee hearing that Catholic teaching against abortion may violate an international anti-torture convention has raised questions about the partiality of the body. “It is outrageous that the U.N. Committee against Torture would challenge the Catholic Church’s religious commitment to the sanctity…
A U.N. committee on torture grilled the Vatican on the Catholic Church’s child sexual abuse crisis on Monday, urging a permanent investigation system to end a “climate of impunity” prevailing for decades. In a two-hour hearing in Geneva, the Committee Against Torture launched a barrage…
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…
