--- description: The Vatican's ambassador released the comprehensive figures during the second day of grilling by a U.N. committee title: Vatican Defrocked 848 Priests, Sanctioned 2,5000 for Sexual Abuse image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1aabeebfd9dc21f4/69868e23e53aba88c24d272c/4882495271.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Vatican](/tag/vatican/) ## Vatican Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Vatican Reveals It Punished Thousands of Priests For Sex Abuse  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 6, 2014 5:49 PM CUT  The Vatican's Ambassador to the United Nations Monsignor Silvano Tomasi (R) gestures next to Vatican Secretary of State Professor Vincenzo Buonomo (L) during a hearing before the United Nations (UN) Committee Against Torture on May 5, 2014, in Geneva. The Vatican's Ambassador to the United Nations Monsignor Silvano Tomasi (R) gestures next to Vatican Secretary of State Professor Vincenzo Buonomo (L) during a hearing before the United Nations (UN) Committee Against Torture on May 5, 2014, in Geneva.FABRICE COFFRINI—AFP/Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 6, 2014 5:49 PM CUT The Vatican on Tuesday revealed a rare, year-by-year tally of how many priests it had disciplined over the past decade for alleged sexual abuses against children. Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, a Vatican ambassador, revealed to a United Nations committee that the Vatican had defrocked a total of 848 priests and sanctioned another 2,572 over the last 10 years, the _Wall Street Journal_ [reports](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303647204579545832453647884?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303647204579545832453647884.html "undefined"). A U.N. committee charged with monitoring an international convention against torture has been investigating whether the Vatican’s senior officials are liable for the abuses, and whether it constitutes torture under the terms of the treaty. \[[_WSJ_](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303647204579545832453647884?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303647204579545832453647884.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/89662/vatican-defrocked-sexual-abuse/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/89662/vatican-defrocked-sexual-abuse/"},"headline":"Vatican Reveals It Punished Thousands of Priests For Sex Abuse","datePublished":"2014-05-06T17:49:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:41:04.751Z","description":"The Vatican's ambassador released comprehensive figures during the second day of grilling by a U.N. committee that monitors an international convention against torture, claiming to have defrocked hundreds and sanctioned thousands of priests in the last decade","url":"https://time.com/89662/vatican-defrocked-sexual-abuse/","keywords":["Vatican","sexual abuse","U.N.","Child abuse","catholic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1aabeebfd9dc21f4/69868e23e53aba88c24d272c/4882495271.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1aabeebfd9dc21f4/69868e23e53aba88c24d272c/4882495271.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SWITZERLAND-UN-VATICAN-CHURCH-CHILD-SEX-ABUSE-RIGHTS","caption":"SWITZERLAND-UN-VATICAN-CHURCH-CHILD-SEX-ABUSE-RIGHTS","creditText":"FABRICE COFFRINI—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/vatican/","name":"Vatican"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/89662/vatican-defrocked-sexual-abuse/","name":"Vatican Reveals It Punished Thousands of Priests For Sex Abuse"}}]}] ```