The "See Change" Broadside #3: European Parliament censures Vatican (fwd)

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European Parliament censures Vatican  

Following reports of the sexual abuse of nuns carried out by priests in as
many as 23 countries, members of the European Parliament passed an
emergency motion censuring the Vatican. The non-executive resolution,
"Responsibility of the Vatican in Regard to the Violation of Human Rights
by Catholic Priests," was passed by 65 votes to 49 with six abstentions on
Thursday, April 5. The motion strongly condemned all violations of women's
rights and acts of sexual violence and requested that the Vatican
"seriously examine every indication of sexual abuse committed in the heart
of its organizations ... [and] re-establish women in their posts in the
religious hierarchy, who were removed from their responsibilities because
they called the attention of their superiors to these abuses." It called
for all those responsible to be brought to justice and removed from
office. The Holy See was also asked to cooperate with any judicial
inquiry. (European Parliament, Daily Notebook, April 5, 2001.)

Media outlets around the world ran news stories reporting on the sexual
misconduct by Catholic priests, which ranged from rape to misuse of power
by convincing sisters to engage in sexual intercourse. While news reports
focused on incidents in Africa and their relationship to priests' fear
that sex with women other than nuns would put them at risk of contracting
AIDS, the original reports named 23 countries, including the US, Italy,
Ireland, Brazil and India, where abuse is alleged to have taken place.

The abuses were first reported in a detailed article in the National
Catholic Reporter by John Allen and Pamela Schaeffer. Their report was
based on five reports dating back to 1994 prepared by members of Catholic
religious orders. A day after the story broke, the Catholic Fund for
Overseas Development, a UK-based Catholic aid agency, confirmed that in
1995 it made the Vatican aware of the most detailed report on the problem.

The details of the reports are harrowing. One nun gave the example of a
priest who brought a sister whom he had impregnated for an abortion. The
nun died during the procedure and the priest subsequently officiated at
the requiem Mass. Also cited is the case of a mother superior who
repeatedly complained to her local bishop that priests in the diocese had
impregnated 29 of her nuns. The bishop, according to the report,
subsequently relieved her of her duties.

While the Vatican accepted the allegations that nuns suffered sexual abuse
by priests, it claimed the problem is a limited one, and chose to
emphasize the "often heroic" fidelity of the large majority of clergy and
those in religious orders. The Vatican's official spokesman, Joaquin
Navarro-Valls, said the problem was "known and restricted to a limited
geographical area."

In an opinion piece released last week, Frances Kissling, president of
Catholics for a Free Choice, pointed out that the reports and the
Vatican's reaction to them are not the first time that the Vatican has
shown itself to be insensitive to the problems of violence against women
and rape and pregnancy, especially in relation to international public
policies that would serve to protect women from violence:

ˇ     In 1993, the pope called on women who had been raped during the
conflict in Bosnia to  "accept the enemy" into them, and to make him the
"flesh of their own flesh." The pope asked women "to transform an act of
violence into an act of love and welcome."

ˇ     In 1998, during the debate over setting up the International Criminal
Court, the Vatican strove to exclude "forced pregnancy" from a proposed
list of war crimes. The Vatican expressed concern over the inclusion of
the term because of its fear that it could be used to oppose laws
prohibiting abortion that exist in many countries around the world. The
Vatican's campaign failed.

ˇ     In 1999, the Vatican used its position at the United Nations to
condemn the provision of emergency contraception to women who had been
raped during the conflict in Kosovo. The vice-president of the Vatican's
Academy for Life, Elio Sgreccia, said the use of emergency contraception
was an "abortion."

ˇ     The Vatican withdrew its annual contribution to UNICEF, the United
Nations children's fund, in 1996, because the fund had endorsed a health
manual for refugee populations that mentioned emergency contraception as
an appropriate intervention for refugee women who had been raped. The
Vatican issued a thinly veiled threat regarding UNICEF, saying it would
inform Catholic groups that reconsideration regarding their participation
in UNICEF fundraising activities might be appropriate.

ˇ     Within the church, one of the most shocking examples of the Vatican's
inability to send a clear and unambiguous message that violence against
women will not be tolerated was the 1994 beatification of a woman who was
considered saintly because in the face of repeated violent abuse by her
husband, she chose to stay in the marriage rather than violate the
sacrament of marriage by leaving.

Kissling went on to say that "the Vatican doesn't get it. Women are tired
of 'nuance' in the face of sexual, emotional and physical abuse. No more
'shooting the messenger' by claiming that talking about such abuse runs
the risk of provoking racism and scapegoating Africa and Africans. No more
blaming the victims by claiming that the problem is the low level of
education of African religious. What women deserve from the Vatican is a
clear and unambiguous condemnation of both the personal and systemic
failures that contributed to such outrageous violations of human dignity."

Kissling continued, "Moreover, the world community, including leaders in
government and in non-governmental agencies, must not be silenced from
condemning such atrocities by the inevitable charge that criticizing the
church, highlighting its shortcomings and demanding accountability is
Catholic bashing. The only bashing being done in this instance is that
done to nuns and other women by church leaders."

(The full National Catholic Reporter article is available online at: 
<http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/031601/031601a.htm>)

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The "See Change" Campaign is an international effort to open a review of
the "state" status of the Catholic church at the United Nations. Hundreds
of organizations from more than 80 countries and tens of thousands of
individuals worldwide have signed on to support the campaign. We believe
that the Holy See, the government of the Roman Catholic church, should
participate in the UN in the same way as the world's other religions do-as
a nongovernmental organization.
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David Nolan, Senior Associate, Communications and Education
Catholics for a Free Choice, 1436 U Street, NW #301
Washington, DC 20009-3997, USA
T: (202) 986 6093; F: (202) 332 7995; 
E: djnolan at catholicsforchoice.org U: http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/
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