Thursday: UN committee to question the Vatican on child sexual abuse

On Thursday, January 16, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child will formally question the Vatican on its record of child sexual abuse. The session will take place in Geneva.

According to Pam Spees, Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), "[t]his is the first time the Vatican has been called by an international body to account for its handling of the crisis of sexual violence throughout the Catholic Church."

CCR represents the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) in the case.

"Throughout the world, children and vulnerable adults have been and continue to be subjected to widespread and systemic rape and sexual violence by priests and others associated with the Roman Catholic Church," said Spees. "The Vatican’s policies and practices enable this violence."

>> Learn more about the case.

>> Watch the livestream of the UN session and/or CCR's follow-up review.