The Catholic Church was slammed at the U.N. on Thursday about how they
have historically handled cases of sex abuse by priests, as a committee
investigated their adherence to the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the
Child, which requires all signatories "to take all appropriate measures
to keep children from harm."
Pope Francis has addressed the
sexual abuse issue as part of his Vatican reforms with the creation of a
commission on abuse, and on Thursday morning he also denounced the
problem in a blistering homily that spoke of the scandal and shame of
the church.
Vatican Radio reported that he said:
"But are
we ashamed? So many scandals that I do not want to mention individually,
but all of us know...We know where they are! Scandals, some who charged
a lot of money.... The shame of the Church!
But are we all
ashamed of those scandals, of those failings of priests, bishops, laity?
Where was the Word of God in those scandals; where was the Word of God
in those men and in those women? They did not have a relationship with
God! They had a position in the Church, a position of power, even of
comfort. But the Word of God, no! 'But, I wear a medal,' ‘I carry the
Cross ' ... Yes, just as those bore the Ark!
Without the living
relationship with God and the Word of God! I am reminded of the words of
Jesus about those for whom scandals come ... And here the scandal hit:
bringing decay to the people of God, including the weakness and
corruption of the priests.'
The Vatican is currently facing
criticism for rejecting an extradition request from Poland regarding the
ex-papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic, Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski.
Wesolowski, the highest-ranking Vatican official to be investigated for
alleged sex abuse to date, is currently thought to be living in the
Vatican.