The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child issued a stinging report Wednesday that first and foremost called on the Roman Catholic Church to remove all child abusers from its ranks and to open its archives to the committee for independent review of crimes and concealment.
The report went beyond that though to criticize the Church for its stance on abortion, homosexuality and contraception among other things.
The Vatican responded that certain elements of the report were “an attempt to interfere with Catholic Church teaching on the dignity of human person and in the exercise of religious freedom. ”
The Catholic Association issued a statement calling the report “a stunning and misguided attackon the Vatican. The responsible committee appears to have overlooked the last decade, in which the Church has taken serious measures to protect children.”
In simple terms, should the committee have limited its comment to the issue of child sexual abuse or was it right to raise broader questions about the church’s teachings on social issues? In a broader sense, what is illuminated by this conflict between a secular institution and a religious one? How should a person of faith respond when someone or something questions their sacred teachings?
