Church the Global Leader in Child Protection

Rome, February 10, 2014 (Zenit.org)

An expert in the field of child protection has responded to a report issued last week by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, describing it as agenda-driven and out-of-date.

In an interview with ZENIT, Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, head of the Institute of Psychology at the Gregorian University in Rome, and director of the Centre for the Protection of Minors, said the report does not take into account the many positive steps that have been taken in recent years to prevent the abuse of minors.

The document was released last Wednesday, less than one month after a delegation from the Holy See appeared before a hearing of the UN Committee in Geneva.

Despite the many efforts that have been taken by the Church to ensure child protection, Fr. Zollner said, the wording of the report wrongly implies that the problems of the past are still current.

“It says priests are not punished,” Fr. Zollner said, and that “the Holy See does not do anything in prevention, or does not cooperate with the civil authorities.” It is “absolutely wrong” to make these assertions as if they apply to the present, he said, as they do not reflect the policy of the Holy See, nor the guidelines set by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). Read more →