Auxiliary Bishop Charles Scicluna has endorsed an opinion piece which slammed a “UN kangaroo court” that “ambushed” the Vatican.
Retweeting an article that appeared on the Catholic Voice website cvcomment.org, Mgr Scicluna commented “Bravo Austen”, praising the author.
In his three-page article entitled ‘How the Holy See was ambushed by a UN kangaroo court’, Austen Ivereigh took to task the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child over its damning report which accused the Church of covering up child sex abuse by priests.
Mgr Scicluna refused to comment on the findings of the report when repeatedly asked by Times of Malta over the past days but he openly agreed with the sentiment expressed in the opinion piece.
The report ...betrays an extraordinary misunderstanding of the Church
Mr Ivereigh wrote: “The report is not only ignorant and misguided, peddling myths for which there is no foundation, but betrays an extraordinary misunderstanding of the nature of the Church and the Holy See, while seeking to impose an ideology of gender and sexuality in violation of the UN’s own commitment to religious freedom.”
The UN watchdog for children’s rights demanded that the Vatican turns in known or suspected paedophile priests to the law enforcement authorities of the respective countries where they served.
It also requested the Holy See to hand over all the documents it had in its possession on sexual abuse on “tens of thousands” of children so that the culprits and those who concealed the crimes be held accountable.
Mgr Scicluna backs article
The Vatican found the UN committee’s recommendation to review its position on abortion, which places obvious risks on the life and health of pregnant girls, unacceptable, sources said.
The scathing report fired up relations between the Vatican and the UN though Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi yesterday adopted a softer tone to that he used when the report was issued.
He insisted with journalists in Rome that there was no rift between both sides although he reiterated the Vatican’s stand that the inclusion of comments on abortion, contraception and homosexuality went beyond the committee’s remit and amounted to an attempt to interfere in Church teaching and religious freedom.