• World
  • Vatican

Vatican Reveals It Punished Thousands of Priests For Sex Abuse

1 minute read
SWITZERLAND-UN-VATICAN-CHURCH-CHILD-SEX-ABUSE-RIGHTS
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

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.

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]

More Must-Reads from TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com