Vatican confirms plans to testify before UN committee on torture
April 15, 2014
The Vatican has acknowledged that it will make a report to the UN’s committee monitoring implementation of the Convention against Torture.
Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, told reporters that the Holy See will make one of several presentations next May before the UN committee. Other countries testifying will include Cyprus, Lithuania, Guinea, Montenegro, Uruguay, Sierra Leone, and Thailand.
The Vatican spokesman downplayed the potential for controversy in the Holy See’s presentation before the committee, saying that it is “standard procedure” for states to provide such testimony after accepting international conventions. (The Holy See ratified the Convention against Torture in 2002.) Some critics of the Church have seen the Vatican appearance as another opportunity to raise questions about the Church’s response to the sex-abuse scandal.
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Further information:
- Presentation of the Holy See's Report on the Convention against Torture (VIS)
- Another UN committee plans to question Vatican officials on abuse (CWN, 4/14)
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