Name: Anonymous 2014-01-19 11:54
Over 300 priests defrocked for sexual abuse
Vatican City - The Vatican defrocked 260 priests for the sexual abuse of children in 2011 and 124 more in 2012 after the scandal exploded in Europe and beyond and bishops forwarded hundreds of cases to the Vatican, according to statistics compiled by the Associated Press.
The numbers were confirmed by the Vatican last Friday and were based on statistics published in its annual reference books.
Two Vatican officials had the statistics in hand but never cited them when they defended the Church's handling of sexual abuse cases before a United Nations panel in Geneva last Thursday.
Experts on sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church say that the numbers represent a spike from previous years but are not surprising, given how the scandal has unfolded in a global organisation with more than 412,000 priests.
In 2001, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, arranged for all abuse cases to be sent to his office at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome.
After the sexual abuse scandal erupted anew in the United States in 2002, US bishops forwarded about 700 abuse cases to the Vatican during the next few years, said Mr Nicholas P. Cafardi, the former dean of the Duquesne University School of Law, who wrote a book about the Church's response to sexual abuse.
"Since the American eruption, you've had eruptions in Ireland and Australia and a number of other European countries," he said.
"The cases could be decades old. So it's certainly a large number, but when you think of the timeframe involved, it's less impressive."
Cases of abuse by priests can be adjudicated in both Church and civil courts, although the vast majority are never prosecuted by civil authorities, often because they are beyond the statute of limitations.
Under the Church's canon law, defrocking is the most severe penalty.
New York Times
Vatican City - The Vatican defrocked 260 priests for the sexual abuse of children in 2011 and 124 more in 2012 after the scandal exploded in Europe and beyond and bishops forwarded hundreds of cases to the Vatican, according to statistics compiled by the Associated Press.
The numbers were confirmed by the Vatican last Friday and were based on statistics published in its annual reference books.
Two Vatican officials had the statistics in hand but never cited them when they defended the Church's handling of sexual abuse cases before a United Nations panel in Geneva last Thursday.
Experts on sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church say that the numbers represent a spike from previous years but are not surprising, given how the scandal has unfolded in a global organisation with more than 412,000 priests.
In 2001, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, arranged for all abuse cases to be sent to his office at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome.
After the sexual abuse scandal erupted anew in the United States in 2002, US bishops forwarded about 700 abuse cases to the Vatican during the next few years, said Mr Nicholas P. Cafardi, the former dean of the Duquesne University School of Law, who wrote a book about the Church's response to sexual abuse.
"Since the American eruption, you've had eruptions in Ireland and Australia and a number of other European countries," he said.
"The cases could be decades old. So it's certainly a large number, but when you think of the timeframe involved, it's less impressive."
Cases of abuse by priests can be adjudicated in both Church and civil courts, although the vast majority are never prosecuted by civil authorities, often because they are beyond the statute of limitations.
Under the Church's canon law, defrocking is the most severe penalty.
New York Times