Vatican grilled by UN over child abuse

United Nations child protection experts have pushed Vatican delegates to reveal the scope of the decades-long sexual abuse of minors by Roman Catholic priests that Pope Francis called "the shame of the Church".

The delegates, answering questions from an international rights panel for the first time since the scandals broke more than two decades ago, denied allegations of a Vatican cover-up and said it had set clear guidelines to protect children from predator priests.

But members of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, and abuse victims attending the session in Geneva, demanded far more transparency on crimes that have rocked the Church, from the United States to Europe and Australia.

...The Vatican angered victim support groups last month by refusing to answer the committee's written questions in advance, saying its inquiries were confidential and that responsibility for dealing with abusers lay with local bishops.

Barbara Blaine, president of the US-based Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said the Vatican response fell far short of what victims wanted.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/vatican-grilled-by-un-over-child-abuse-20140117-hv8ru.html