大量神職人員性虐兒童 兩年內近400人遭解職大綱

The flood of allegations, lawsuits and official reports into clerical abuse reached a peak in 2009 and 2010, which observers say may explain the spike shown in the document.

The Holy See is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, a legally binding instrument which commits it to protecting and nurturing the most vulnerable in society.

It ratified the convention in 1990 but after an implementation report in 1994 it did not submit any progress reports until 2012, following revelations of child sex abuse in Europe and beyond.

Last month, the Vatican refused a request from the UN's Committee on the Rights of the Child for data on abuse, on the grounds that it only released such information if requested to do so by another country as part of legal proceedings.

In a homily on Thursday, Benedict's successor, Pope Francis, called abuse scandals "the shame of the Church".

He announced in December that a Vatican committee would be set up to fight sexual abuse of children in the Church.據英國廣播公司報道，在2009年和2010年間，大量有關神職人員性虐兒童的指控、訴訟和官方報道已經沸騰了。

梵蒂岡是聯合國《兒童權利公約》的簽署者。這是一份具有法律約束力的文書，承諾保護和照顧兒童。

1990年，羅馬教會批准了這個公約。但是在1994年的執行報告後，直到2012年才提交了進展報道，在歐洲和其他地區兒童受到性虐曝光後。

上個月，梵蒂岡拒絕了聯合國兒童權利委員會關於提供受虐兒童數據的要求，理由是隻有其他國家提出要求、作爲法律程序的一部分，才能公佈這些信息。

在週四的說教中，本尼迪克特的繼承者——弗朗西斯一世認爲這個虐待醜聞是教會的恥辱。

弗朗西斯一世在2013年12月宣佈，梵蒂岡將設立委員會來與教會性虐兒童作鬥爭。