The repulsive Holy See and the U.N.’s response

I’m not sure what’s more revolting: The continued flippancy of the Catholic Church about charges of child molestation and rape or the United Nations’ slap-on-the-wrist excoriation.

According to a U.N. report, the Vatican has held a long-standing policy that allowed for the rape and sexual abuse of young children, and the U.N. Committee on the Rights of a Child admonished the Holy See to

Immediately remove all known and suspected child sexual abusers from assignment and refer the matter to the relevant law enforcement authorities for investigation and prosecution purposes.

Yet, and this is the kicker, the U.N. criticized the church for submitting its last report 14 years late and then provided the Vatican three years — three years! — to clean up its house and report back. I’m not a math whiz, but by my calculation, that’s 17 years of unaccountability.

First, if the Vatican hasn’t severely punished members of the clergy and expunged pedophiles from its ranks by now after decades of alleged abuses, what makes the U.N. think its going to clean up its act by 2017? Further, the recommendations are only recommendations and are not binding. What kind of leadership is that?

The U.N. matter of factly said the Vatican was keeping and abetting child molesters under a set of policies that protected these creeps, yet the best the U.N. can do is pass along a non-binding recommendation that the church address its issues. Since when did child molestation rank on the same level as stealing from the offering plate? Everyday probably seems like a lifetime for a victim recovering from sexual abuse, yet where is the urgency from the church, which claims to have such an  interest in bettering humanity?

If the Vatican is housing “known” or suspected child abusers, why has it not been ousted from the U.N. and charged with crimes against humanity? Why has Joseph Ratzinger not been rounded up for turning a blind eye to these offenses? Doesn’t protecting known offenders make a person or organization complicit in a crime? Why should the Vatican be any different? As Christopher Hitchens said, the whole thing is just poisoned with the “stench of evil.”

Read the full U.N. report here.