Vatican Issues First Annual Report on Child Protection, Calls for Unified Compensation Policies and Easier Removal of Priests

Oct 29, 2024, 01:40 PM

The Vatican has published its first annual report on protecting minors in the Catholic Church, a move requested by Pope Francis amid pressure for more action to tackle clerical child sex abuse. The report, issued by the Vatican's child protection commission, highlights the need for unified policies on compensating victims of sexual abuse by clergy. It also calls for greater transparency from the Vatican's sex abuse office and easier removal of priests who have abused minors. The report criticizes the Catholic Church for still failing to adequately report clerical abuse and urges that victims have more access to information about their cases and the right to compensation. The report is the first-ever global assessment of the Catholic Church’s efforts to address the crisis. Advocates for survivors of clergy abuse have called the report an exercise in obfuscation.