NEW YORK - A maverick group of Roman Catholics said Wednesday the Vatican has mishandled cases of sex abuse by priests so badly that it has violated the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.
On the first day of a U.N. special session on children, Catholics for a Free Choice said it wants a U.N. panel to demand that the Vatican submit a report on scope of clergy abuse of children along with a plan to prevent further cases.
The advocacy group also urged U.N. delegates to speak with the Holy See's representatives about the issue, and to consider censuring the Vatican over how it has handled sex abuse scandals worldwide.
"We want U.N. member states here at this meeting to ask the Holy See what they're doing to protect children," said Frances Kissling, president of the Catholics for a Free Choice, which supports abortion rights and other positions contrary to church teachings.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child is the panel that would request the Vatican report. However, a U.N. spokesman said that it has no enforcement authority.
Monsignor Anthony Frontiero of the Vatican's U.N. mission referred inquiries to the Vatican embassy in Washington, which did not return a call seeking comment.
Since January, the U.S. church has been shaken by allegations that some bishops protected priests suspected of molesting children. The abuse issue has also surfaced in Ireland, Poland and other countries.
Catholics for a Free Choice, meanwhile, has been working to limit the Vatican's influence in the United Nations. The group has lobbied for years to revoke the Vatican's status as a permanent observer, which gives the Holy See many of the same rights as a full U.N. member.
At the special session running through Friday, delegates from more than 150 countries will discuss developments since the 1989 accord on children's rights and a 1990 World Summit for Children. They will also make plans for the coming decade.
At an unrelated interfaith meeting Tuesday on the children's summit, Lutheran Bishop Gunnar Stalsett of Oslo, Norway, told reporters that "we need to ask whether our religious institutions are fit for children."
Responding to a question, the bishop conceded that he was thinking of the U.S. Catholic scandals. But, he said, "in every religious community there are histories of abuse and exploitation and we need to speak openly with each other about that."