UN panel hears Vatican over child sex abuse by clergy

A UN panel in Geneva has begun questioning Vatican officials on the sexual abuse of thousands of children by Roman Catholic clergy.

For the Vatican, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi said such crimes could "never be justified" and every child was "inviolable - body, mind and spirit".

The Vatican refused an earlier request for data, saying cases should be heard in the countries where they took place.

It was accused of responding inadequately to abuse allegations.

This is the first time the Holy See is defending itself in public over its record on sex abuse.

Victims say they hope the hearing, which is being broadcast live, will prompt the Church to end its "secrecy".

Pope Francis announced last month that a Vatican committee would be set up to fight sexual abuse of children in the Church and offer help to victims. He also broadened the definition of crimes against minors to include sexual abuse of children.

Teodoro Pulvirenti now lives in New York




'We request justice'

The hearing in Geneva was welcomed by Italian man Teodoro Pulvirenti, who was abused by a priest as a teenager in Sicily.

He recalled how he had gone to the priest for guidance as a teenager.Mr Pulvirenti, who now lives in the US, told the Associated Press it was time for the Vatican to end its "secrecy" over a global sex abuse scandal.

"I went to his office and... something strange happened and he started putting his hands under my T-shirt and that's when the abuse actually started," he said.

He moved to America in 2006 but returned to Sicily in 2011 and confronted the priest, Don Carlo Chiarenza, who was subsequently found guilty by the Vatican and dismissed from his diocese. The decision is currently under appeal.

"I'm not coming out against the Vatican and I don't want the Church to think the victims are against the Church, against the Vatican," Mr Pulvirenti said. "We are standing up for our own survival, but we request justice."



Source: BBC NEWS