April 23, 2002, Tuesday

RIGHTS: GROUP TO TARGET CHURCH SEX SCANDAL AT U.N. MEET

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Apr. 23

When the Vatican's emissaries arrive for a major conference on children here next month, they will be the targets of a campaign by Catholic activists who say the Holy See has yet to repent for the sins of its child-abusing custodians.

Frances Kissling, president of Washington-based Catholics for a Free Choice (CFFC), said the U.N. Special Session on Children, scheduled for May 8-10, will be an "excellent opportunity" for the Holy See to apologize for the widespread sexual abuse of children by priests.

"Neither the United Nations nor its member states can ignore the systematic abuse of children, and neither the United Nations nor its member states can ignore violations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the Holy See, a U.N. Permanent Observer," Kissling told IPS today. Pope John Paul II summoned U.S. cardinals for talks at the Vatican this week. "People need to know that there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young," news reports today quoted him as telling them.

That is not enough, said Kissling. "Sexual abusers must be dismissed and defrocked promptly. High-ranking officials who have covered up abuse or impeded civil and criminal proceedings must resign or be dismissed," she said.

Church officials here were unavailable for immediate comment.

In the United States, the Church reportedly has paid nearly $ 1 billion to settle lawsuits stemming from the sexual abuse. Public accusations of paedophilia also have been made in France, Mexico, Ireland, Austria, Canada, and Poland.

The Holy See has a seat in the world body as a permanent observer and is a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, said Kissling, it has never acknowledged any violations of the Convention.

Promises held out by the Convention include children's right to life; to be free from discrimination; to be protected in armed conflicts; to be protected from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; to receive education, health care, an adequate standard of living, and freedom from economic and sexual exploitation and other abuses.

Adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on Nov. 20, 1989, the Convention has been signed by 191 states, the only two exceptions being the United States and Somalia.

Next month's special session is aimed at reinforcing the security and protection of children worldwide and ensuring full implementation of the Convention.

Kissling said that her organization plans to submit a petition to the special session urging delegates to raise the issue of child abuse by priests.

"We are planning to get hundreds of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) to sign this petition," she said, adding that CFFC also plans to convince delegates to single out the protection of children from sexual abuse in a draft plan of action to be adopted at the special session.

"We want the plan of action to make a reference to the clergy and the prevention of sexual abuse by clergy," she said.

The session, which is a follow-up to the 1990 World Summit for Children, is to be attended by more than 80 world political leaders. They are to take stock of progress made since the last summit and agree a new course of action for the coming decade.

The proposed plan, entitled "A World Fit for Children," says: "We, the governments participating in the U.N. Special Session on Children, are determined to seize this historic opportunity to change the world for and with children."