A document obtained by The Associated Press shows Pope Benedict XVI
defrocked nearly 400 priests over just two years for molesting children.
The statistics for 2011-12 show a dramatic increase over the 170 priests
removed in 2008 and 2009, when the Vatican first provided details on
the number of priests who have been defrocked.
Prior to that, it had
only revealed the number of alleged cases of sexual abuse it had
received.
The document was prepared from data the Vatican had been collecting to
help the Holy See defend itself before a U.N. committee this week in
Geneva.
Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican's U.N. ambassador in Geneva,
referred to just one of the statistics in the course of eight hours of
oftentimes pointed criticism and questioning from the U.N. human rights
committee. The AP obtained the document Friday.