The United Nations came down heavily on the Vatican Wednesday, for its failure to address the child abuse issue and demanded immediate removal of the clergies involved in the crime.
According to a report by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, several children across the world have been sexually abused for years in the Catholic Church, reports the Agence France-Presse.
Also, the committee said the Holy See submit their archive reports on child sexual abuse in order to take action against the priests and those involved in covering up the crimes.
"The Committee is gravely concerned that the Holy See has not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, has not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual abuse and to protect children, and has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by and the impunity of the perpetrators," the report said, according to the Reuters.
Moreover, the UN also criticized the 'code of silence' that ensures the victim does not reveal about the crime. It said that the Holy See prioritized the church's and the offenders' reputation over protection of the child victims, reports the Associated Press.
"Due to a code of silence imposed on all members of the clergy under penalty of excommunication, cases of child sexual abuse have hardly ever been reported to the law enforcement authorities in the countries where such crimes occurred," the UN report reads.
The report also said that the commission formed by Pope Francis in December should probe all the child abuse cases and the way the Catholic authorities dealt with them. Also, the offenders were transferred from parish to parish or other countries to conceal the crime.
The Vatican denied covering up any child abuse and said it set proper guidelines to protect children. In December, it rejected UN's request to give in the data on abuse saying that it only released such information if requested to do so by another country as part of legal proceedings, reports BBC.
The UN report also stated the Catholic Church did not take measures to prevent any repetition of such offenses like Ireland's Magdalene laundries scandal, where girls were randomly placed in conditions of forced labor.
The Vatican was to issue a statement Wednesday.
