Campaigners have called on Pope Francis, who was
elected in March, to make tackling the issue of sexually abusive priests an
urgent priority of his papacy.
The UN's Committee on the Rights of the Child released
its demands for information from the Holy See on Tuesday.
The committee said that "in the light of the
recognition by the Holy See of sexual violence against children committed by
members of the clergy, brothers and nuns in numerous countries around the
world, and given the scale of the abuses", the Vatican should provide
detailed information on all cases of child sexual abuse committed by clergy.
The Vatican was told to show whether it had
implemented measures "to ensure that no member of the clergy currently
accused of sexual abuse be allowed to remain in contact with children,"
amid claims from around the world that bishops often moved abusive priests from
one parish to another.
The UN committee demanded to know about specific cases
in which bishops or other Catholic leaders had failed to report suspected abuse
to the police.
The Vatican was also urged to divulge details of its
investigation of alleged sexual abuse and the outcome of those investigations,
including any financial compensation or psychological counselling for victims.
The committee wants to know what measures the Holy See
has taken "to prevent further sexual violence from taking place in
institutions run by the Catholic Church." The Vatican has until January to
compile all the information, in time for an open meeting of the UN committee in
Geneva at which Vatican officials will be questioned.
Despite being a signatory to the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, the Holy See had largely ignored requests for information,
said Keith Porteous Wood, the executive director of the National Secular
Society, who gave evidence to the committee last month.
"One of the requirements of a signatory is to
compile a five yearly report on compliance – or in the Vatican's case
non-compliance – with the convention. The Holy See has grossly failed to do
this for something like 12 years," he told The Daily Telegraph."They
allowed sexual abuse on an unbelievable scale and it hasn't all come out yet –
we expect many, many more cases to emerge in the developing world."
Pope Francis's apparent determination to crack down on
allegations of corruption and money-laundering within the Vatican bank gave
hope that he might take a tough line on sexually abusive clergy, Mr Porteous
Wood said.
"I think it's a good sign," he said.
"Child abuse is a major issue, along with corruption, that he needs to
sort out. His legacy will be judged, I think, on his ability to deal with these
immensely difficult problems."
Geoffrey Robertson QC, the human rights lawyer, who
has strongly criticised the Catholic Church's cover-up of sex abuse scandals
around the world, said: "The committee's enquiries will inevitably lead it
to conclude that the Vatican has broken multiple articles of the convention on
a huge scale in many countries. The result in human suffering is incalculable.
"Francis's papacy could well be defined by the
world's verdict on his response - more handwringing apologies or calls for a
line to be drawn under the past will no longer wash.
"He will fail unless he initiates bold tangible
actions, for example lifting the veil of secrecy that has protected so many
clerical rapists, engaging secular authorities and offering rather than
resisting appropriate compensation."