Sue Cox

Sue Cox

Thursday 29 May 2014

Don't ring me...!






I am still quite bemused why Premier christian radio still phone me up for comments when there is yet another ridiculous and in this case, quite offensive, PR stunt coming from the vatican.They are talking of course of the pope’s insulting idea to meet with “victims” 
Interviewer” What do you think about the popes statement that he is prepared to meet with half a dozen “victims”
Me: “Utterly ridiculous, another in a long line of meaningless PR stunts” 
Interviewer: “ What good do you expect to  come  out of such a meeting?”
Me: None whatsoever, apart from whatever publicity the vatican can muster for themselves , it will do NO good to survivors, and can only benefit the vatican”
Interviewer : What do you think of the pope likening child abuse to performing a black mass”
Me: I wonder which century he thinks he is living in”
Interviewer :“But don’t you think his likening it to satanic practice significant?”
Me:” I would be happier if he recognised that the rest of the world view it as a crime against humanity!”
Interviewer:” What else could he do? 
Me:” Everything he has been TOLD to do by hundreds of lawyers, thousands of survivors loads of activists and now TWO U.N. committees! Simple!”
Interviewer:” He did say there would be zero tolerance for clergy abusing children”
Me:“So what does he want brownie points for catching up with everyone else! There isn’t a  decent person on the planet who would suggest anything but zero tolerance!”
Interviewer: “Don’t you think it is good that he is “reaching out” ?
 Me: “Reaching out! reaching out! what are you talking about! When hundreds of thousands of clergy abuse victims have been SCREAMING OUT for decades? and they have been dismissed, disregarded, lied about, abused over and over again! What the hell do they know about “reaching out”! We don’t want them to “reach out” we want them to be held to account! 
Interviewer: “What would you say if you were invited to go?” 
Me: NO !
Interviewer:”But if you were invited what would you say to the pope?”
Me: It wouldn’t happen because I wouldn’t go!”
Interviewer : But just imagine you did go?” 
Me: I cannot imagine anything worse, I simply would NOT be there! 
Interviewer:  “:But there will be some victims who will go”
Me:” Yes you are absolutely right, there will be some hand picked ”victims” who are still in the grip of the church, or  naively imagine they have some clout, but they will be used and abused again,even if we ever get to know who they are! and they will remain just that -Victims 
You would not catch a SURVIVOR  going anywhere near them!
Interviewer : Well thank you very much for taking the time to tell us your thoughts”
Me: “My pleasure”
Me: Away from the radio “What the f... do they still ring me for? I never say anything they want to hear!
And which part of “We won’t dance to the tune of this  narcissistic criminal organisation” do they not understand?
I am being told that “victims” are divided about this visit!
Well "victims" may be   SURVIVORS are not!


Tuesday 27 May 2014

More insults!!!!!





It is rare that I scream abuse at the radio these days, maybe I am growing up?
But I have just heard the report that the pope is prepared to meet “victims” of clergy sexual abuse! That radio took a beating!
How many more INSULTS can this pope throw at us!
Yet again he has come out with an offensive, meaningless gesture after the UN committee has slammed the vatican for their appalling attitude to handling child abuse!
He says he will meet with six “victims”, say a mass with them and then meet with them afterwards 
WHAT!
How much more nonsense can he come up with!
Here is the thing!
WE DON”T WANT TO MEET YOU! We do not see you as some sort of deity or celebrity- you are the head of an organisation which has been responsible for the destruction of thousands of lives!
It is YOU who should be begging to meet with the hundreds of thousands of abuse SURVIVORS worldwide, and listen to their instructions! You need to do ll of the things the UN are telling you to do, you need to open up to independant secular scrutiny and SHUT UP!
You are no longer in charge!
The “victims” will be hand picked, from those who are still in the grips of your church, they will be used and abused for photographs and PR,or we will probably never know their names, and  they will be INEVITABLY damaged even further.
The rest of us - the MAJORITY of survivors don’t want anything the hell to do with a church which has disregarded and dismissed us for decades.
These meaningless, empty, useless  PR DEMONSTRATIONS are OFFENSIVE!
He says he  will have zero tolerance to clergy abuse crimes, likening them to “Devil worship” or performing a “Black Mass”
What century is he living in? Are we supposed to be impressed by these words?
These are CRIMES! they are acts of torture, and are human rights violations.
They cause  physical and permanent BRAIN DAMAGE,and shorten life spans, and that damage can be passed on to the next generation and the next.....
So as I sit here screaming at the TV and radio with my nine  life threatening or life limiting disorders , my distorted life path, a shortened life span the last thing I need slimy duplicitous, unfeeling arrogant PR man standing up on his pedestal hurling yet more abuse and insults at me and my brave justice deprived fellow survivors.
It is time to get ANGRY at being constantly insulted and abused.


Sunday 25 May 2014

Victory in Geneva!





Report from Geneva
May 2014

The Holy See's investigation by the UN Committee against torture and Inhuman and degrading treatment.

Sue Cox

Survivors Voice -Europe  are delighted by the outcome of the report against the Holy See after making our submission to the UN Committee Against Torture and degrading and inhuman treatment,(CAT)
This is the second time we have submitted evidence to the UN , the first being the committee for the Rights of the Child which resulted in a similar victory for justice in February this year.
But once again we hear the vatican shouting from the rooftops that they have NOT been found in violation of the UN convention against torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, despite the exact opposite being true.
It beggars belief that they still employ these PR tactics.
To begin with they tried to NOT be questioned at all about sexual abuse of minors by their clergy! saying it was not part of this committee’s remit.That was firmly rejected!
After churning out the same old chestnut that “they are only responsible for the people in the square mile of vatican city”, and seeing that soundly and categorically rejected by the UN committee,  they very quickly resorted to their usual default position of lying through their teeth.
Even before the UN announcement, they put out a statement saying they had NOT been found in breach of the convention, then when the announcement to the contrary was made public, they complained  that their violation of the convention, and the categorising of childhood clergy abuse as torture and inhuman and degrading treatment was only “implied”!
We already  know that they lie, having witnessed them for decades, and having witnessed their performances in Geneva, we also now know that they have distorted hearing and vision too ! 
How desperate must these people be to defend the indefensible that they will even totally misreport and misrepresent the findings of a specialist UN committee!
I am told by my Italian colleagues that there is little reporting of the UN findings in Italy, (no change there! ) But what IS being reported is an absolute reversal of the findings!
They are claiming black is white as usual, and I guess you can’t expect much else from a narcissistic organisation which is gradually having a spotlight shone on every one of their  dark and sinister corners.

So let me put the record straight! 

1.The UN committee against torture and inhuman and degrading treatment made it crystal clear that the Holy See were found to be in violation of that convention. They even went as far in their report specifically about the Holy See to detail  their clear definition of torture.
The committee recognises child sexual abuse and sexual abuse of adults by priests as acts covered by the convention against torture and inhuman and degrading treatment.

3/ They criticised the fact that the Holy Sees report to them was 9 years late!

4/ The HS tried to argue that it relates only to the square mile of the Vatican City. The committee rejects that argument – it applies to RC priests and clergy worldwide.

5/The HS has tried to place time limits on dealing with these complaints. The committee says there are no time limits.

6/ The HS is criticised for resisting the principle that all allegations should be reported to the police. They have not named or detailed the priests who they say they have disciplined, or shown their whereabouts now.

7/The HS is criticised for not providing the data relating to the number of reports of abuse throughout its church.

8/The HS is criticised for harbouring criminals – Father Joseph Jeyapaul, Father Peter Kramer, and Archbishop Josef Wesolowski were named, but there are many more.

9/ They are criticised for encouraging an Australian Bishop to withhold documentation from the New South Wales Australian inquiry.

10/The committee says the HS cannot be trusted to deal with complaints and recommends an independent complaints mechanism.

11/ It criticises the lack of constructive approach to compensation namely failing to contribute to the Magdalenes scheme in Ireland.

They have a year to go back to the committee to show what changes have been made, in the same way they have to report back to the committee for the Rights of the child to show that they have complied with their recommendations.

Make NO mistake, childhood clergy sexual abuse of children and vulnerable people IS clearly defined as torture, and degrading and inhuman treatment as defined by the UN convention, and is recognised as such not only by that committee at the UN but by every thinking human being on the planet.
The fact that the Holy see has the sheer audacity to deny this is mind boggling, and really shows them in their true light.
I hope that these findings will now open doors to further  legal actions.There can be no statute of limitation for cases of torture.
I hope also it opens the door to criminal proceedings in the International Criminal Court and the court of Human Rights.
I would encourage EVERY survivor of these criminals to bombard those courts with their own complaints ,and recognise that now they do have absolute right to redress.

I would also ask my Italian, Polish, Russian, French,German speaking colleagues in who’s countries reporting is “sparse”  to translate this and circulate it freely!

Saturday 24 May 2014

Open wounds


I am a tough lady, it could be said that I have a hard edge, and that may well be true, I have had a hard life and it has left inevitable residue! I am a fighter because I have HAD to be!
But there are days when I don’t want to be me.
There are days when I can’t bear to think about things and there are days when I just want to curl up in a ball and hide.
Today  is one of those days. 
I think always have a reaction to things like the UN report,regardless of a good outcome. Having submitted evidence  to the committee against torture,  and then hoping that justice and decency will prevail. 
Watching and waiting, and then getting the result, seems like a fairly inoquous pastime to most I am sure.
But to those of us who have lived through this  it is so emotive, so painful, writing the words and seeing the reality on paper,  re- living events,re-opening wounds, being acutely of what has been lost, the stark reality of having a damaged brain, a distorted life  path, being pretty much an alien in  a world that I so badly had wanted to belong to.
I am not usually given to self pity, and I am not giving in to it now ,I just feel a bit  raw and vulnerable, in need of a metaphorical "warm blanket" wrapped around me and for it all to go away.
I hate what the church did to me and people like me, I hate what they have by extension done to my children, and grandchildren. I hate the lies they feed people, the narcissism and the arrogance, I hate the waste of lives and the lost potential,the inability to form relationships, the mistrusts,  the suicides, the mental illnesses , the addictions, the violence, the tears.
But most of all I hate knowing that they simply do not give a shit! 
I hate their defensive  responses to the justified criticisms of UN committees.
I hate them using every angle to wriggle out of their responsibilities, their flagrant disregard for the people they have destroyed, the trivialising of this crime against humanity.
I felt sacrificial after I was abused, and that has been my default mindset for nearly sixty years. 
Thank F... for decent human beings, and for other "aliens" like me, without each other I think we would be lost.
And “yes”  in answer to the question I am so often asked - I DO hate the church!
So today is a day to lick my wounds, shed a few more tears , feel a bit  fragile, hope that a few of you out there are sending me a hug,  and tomorrow to get back in the fight!

Thursday 22 May 2014







Interview on the religious radio today:

Interviewer "There is no evidence that I have 

seen to support the claims of abuse on that 

scale, everything sent to the UN is anecdotal"


Me: There are hundreds of thousands of 

abused people who have no vested 

interested in anything but the truth! and while 

we are on the subject of anecdotes, Your 

whole bloody religion is "anecdotal" I have 

yet to see any real evidence to support it!


PRESS RELEASE

  1. ROMAN CATHOLIC CHILD ABUSE RECORD UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT AT THE UNITED NATIONS

UN convention against Torture - REPORT DUE FRIDAY 23RD MAY 2014

The UN committee against torture will report on Friday on the Holy See's record on torture.

During exchanges on 5th and 6th May 2014 members of the committee against torture repeatedly pressed the Vatican representative on it's record on child abuse.

The committee are likely to recognise the sexual abuse of minors and women by clergy as torture within the definition of the convention.

Committee members accused the Holy See of having effectively allowed child abuse by clerics to go unpunished with weak systems of investigation, punishment and high level failures to report allegations to the police. 

Since 2001 the Roman Catholic Church has been engulfed in child abuse scandals in almost every country worldwide involving not only abuse by priests but also Bishops and the Vatican covering up child abuse.

Critics of the church accuse it of covering up child abuse and fostering an environment in which priests feel able to abuse children without fear of being turned in to the police. Non governmental organisations such as Survivors Voice-Europe based in the UK and SNAP from the US gave evidence to the committee regarding these issues.

Holy See representatives responded by failing to properly answer most of the questions posed by the committee and putting forward an argument that it's obligations under the convention are confined only to the small area of land in Rome known as the Vatican City. This assertion was unanimously dismissed by the committee.

Sue Cox of Survivors Voice-Europe commented: 

"I represent hundreds of survivors of child sexual abuse and gave evidence this Torture committee and earlier to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. 

The response of Vatican representatives has been truly shameful. They have displayed no regret and have tried to lie their way put of the many awkward questions put to them by this committee of world renowned experts.

Francis has an opportunity to change church rules and culture but the signs are not good. Rather than engage with the UN and heed its criticisms he has tried to defend the indefensible. I hope the UN will take action to shame the church into action."

David Greenwood, child abuse solicitor with Switalskis Solicitors and children's rights campaigner with www.stopchurchchildabuse.co.uk commented: 

"Rules promoted by successive Popes require secrecy when dealing with child abuse allegations. This protects abusers from the police. Priests have been moved between dioceses and countries to avoid detection. This has led to a culture in the church in which priests feel able to abuse children without fear of being reported to the police. 

The church has taken no practical steps to improve child protection and has ignored its UN obligations. The disingenuous response given to the committee illustrates the church's lack of respect for the UN committee and child protection generally.

The UN committee has the power to take action and thousands of victims of abuse worldwide are hoping for UN action against the Roman Catholic Church."

For more information contact the following delegates who made submissions to the UN hearings:-

Sue Cox -0781 3808026 or sue.cox@survivorsvoice-europe.org

David Greenwood 07712 304880 or david.greenwood@switalskis.com



Sue Cox 
Survivors Voice Europe





Wednesday 14 May 2014

How many will stand and be counted!

As Always John B from Australia strikes a real chord! read this, and then his update below! It would be very interesting to do a similar poll here in Europe!
Sue X



For those who make the claim that there are many Catholic priests, nuns and laity trying to do the right thing.

From our experience of dealing with clergy from across Australia we have calculated the following number of proactive clergy willing and able to assist victims/survivors. If you can add to these numbers please contact me so we can update these figures.

Of the 3126 Catholic priests we have been made aware of 3 who have provided assistance to known victims/survivors.

Of the 5,001,624 Catholics we have found several who claim to be willing to assist yet we have been unable to bring one of these events to fruition.

Of the 64004 religious Catholic sister we have been unable to locate any willing or able to assist known survivors/victims.

Of the 1080 religious Catholic brothers we have been unable to locate any willing or able to assist known survivors/victims.

rgds

JohnB


We would like to thank the anonymous Catholic who pointed out that one of our figures was incorrect - please refer below to "6400 religious Catholic sister" - we incorrectly showed that number to be 64004 and missed the "s" in the word 'sisters'; despite our request for assistance for more than 300 known victim/survivors in need we were unable to add any additional figures to our tally as a result of this conversation; it seems that many members of the laity according to our caller still hold the view of George Pell in that survivors/victims and in particular those who speak out are and remain the enemies of the Catholic church and added to that we are considered to be enemies of our own country.

A response from the USA from a globally known advocate for survivors emailed to inform us that they were unaware of any individuals in the US that would meet similar criteria over there perhaps with the exception of selected members of several "Support" groups.

One response from Australia explained her own situation and how she has been able to obtain a degree of financial support for herself and her children (fathered by Catholic clergy) in return for "favors" while explaining that she is aware of others in similar situations.

JohnB

Sunday 11 May 2014

INNOCENCE LOST







Don’t you just cringe when christians bring every conversation around to what Jesus would have said about this or about that,how they manage to find opportunities to spout their message at every turn? 
I grew up in that kind of cringe making environment, signs and messages everywhere and quick “eye to the main chance” comments when ever anyone pretty much said anything!
I remember losing one of my children when he was three, he had wandered out of the family’s shop and someone, thinking he was lost, took him to the lost children’s kiosk on the beach! I was frantic, 8 months pregnant and running up and down the street screaming his name until  I  eventually found what had happened.
Before I found him, one of my Aunts, head on one side in  that  awful religious  “beatific”  pose said “Never mind dear, remember our blessed lady lost her lad” ! -  I nearly went for her throat! 
Any pain or tragedy one suffered   was always trivialised  at the side of 
“Think what our blessed lord suffered” !
I have an internal scream every time I encounter it!
So I am loathe to always bring every occasion and event around to clergy sexual abuse , despite the fact that it pretty much effects every little thing we survivors do.
But as I held my new born grandson in my arms, I could not help but think about those  appalling effects and the scientific research showing  that the damage done to my brain by being abused, and the damage to my immune system and metabolic system, the shortening of my life span, can be passed on to the next generation and the next....
And I can do NOTHING about it,regardless of how much I want to change it I  can’t.
I remember thinking about my own children and what they might have inherited, and feeling suicidal.Then my other grandchildren, how much have they been affected ? 
But even killing myself would not have changed it! 
Of course this does not mean they can take everything away from me,there is still enormous joy in this lovely new baby, in my children’s and grandchildren’s achievments, in the people I meet and am touched by,  in my work and my home.
But it was DISTORTED! For me, for my children and for their children, by a greedy inadequate sweaty ugly pedophile and the  narcissistic church that incubates these creeps, and then trivialises our pain.
Please do not tell me, or any other survivor,  as we await the UN’s decision regarding childhood clergy abuse, that experiencing this, and then knowing the lifelong effects for ourselves and our loved ones is not torture! 

Wednesday 7 May 2014

THINK WEEK 2015!!!









I was priveleged to be at the first Oxford “Thinkweek” meeting last night! 
This exciting annual event organised by Oxford University Atheist and Humanist Students , Oxford Brookes Atheist and Humanist Students , Oxford Humanists, and the Oxford Sea of Faith should not be missed!  
Lots of great input and ideas for the 2015 festival. 
The theme next year will be “Think about SEX” and Survivors Voice Europe will be offering at least one of the sessions in a week of thought provoking issues, together with some very inspirational people.
Every year I have been to Thinkweek I am struck by how AMAZING  it is! 
Last year's theme “Think  about Myths and Legends” was preceded by “Think about Death” and this year’s theme will prove especially  absorbing.
It will be in the last week of February 2015 and so I am telling EVERYBODY now to put that in their diaries! You will miss a rare treat if you don’t go to at least one of those lectures or events! (hope it is ours!) Go onto the Think week FB page and Like it! 
From a personal point of view I have been overwhelmed by the love and support I have received from this crowd, and I want all survivors to know of these great and  honourable people. 
If anyone ever doubts the compassion and humanity of atheists and humanists, then I can only tell you that it is they who have actually restored my faith in humanity! Made me feel less like an alien and more like a valuable human being! It is great to be involved!
Tell everyone about THINK WEEK  2015! 

Sunday 4 May 2014

OUR SUBMISSION TO THE UN COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE GENEVA MAY 5TH 2014




Submission to the U.N. Committee Against Torture  
Geneva
May 2014


I am submitting these further details to the Committee to highlight the breaches of Human Rights and to evidence that Childhood Clergy sexual abuse is indeed well within the committees definition of torture.
I would like to refer to our previous submissions to the committee for the rights of the child which was submitted last year and which formed part of the evidence condemning the Holy See for their handling of clergy abuse crimes.


The appalling effects of child abuse are self evident, and there can be no doubt in any mind that they are a grave crime and one which the church has hidden and denied for centuries.
But I would go further and say that the indoctrination of children is itself very much against the principles and articles of the Committee against Torture.
The Jesuits boast to “give me a child before he is seven and I will show you the man” is sinister in it’s accuracy.
It is impossible to talk about  abuse experiences without first discussing the environment in which they occurred.

The catholic environment was (and still is) very much part of the problem, and provided (and still provides) a breeding ground for abuse. It is impossible to talk about abuse without also talking about the catholic indoctrination of children, the church’s distorted view of sexual matters, the deification of the clergy, and the narcissism of the church itself.
We do not  attach any blame to individuals since they were a product of their own upbringing and ruled over  by a religion based on fear and retribution.  
It is cruel and inhuman to fill a child’s malleable brain with fear of death and eternal damnation in hell, and is particularly reprehensible that a child can feel the real threat of exclusion from family and community if they do not adhere to that which the church has dictated.
To most children that is too unbearable a prospect. Even after being abused by a priest, the fear of exclusion often means that a child will stay  silent, live with their shame  often for half a century.

I would postulate that this is tantamount to torture.

As human beings, we are a social species: we adapted very early on to the safety and security that necessitated the formation of groups. We were safer as groups, in tribes, villages or families. It was, and still is, essential for our survival.
 The security we have in belonging to one of these groups is a vital part of how we flourish and thrive.
It is almost as fundamental as breathing; it is part of what it means to be human.
Along with the appalling physical acts of betrayal when a child is sexually abused by a priest, that isolation and alienation is further abuse. especially from a revered priest of the  church which probably was the only “group” it has ever known. In this way, the  church has taken away part of our humanity.

With the isolation caused by being singled out and violated, the catholic church, in their behaviour towards abused people like us, have committed crimes against humanity and have created a sort of “sub culture” of  human beings, who no longer feel they belong anywhere. 

We might still be breathing, putting one foot in front of the other, functioning after a fashion, and we may even have some outward signs of success.
We are, after all, a part of nature, and in nature survival is instinctive - we have honed our survivor skills out of sheer necessity,  BUT that evolutionary imperative to be whole and to thrive as part of a group is no longer ours.
Our “trust barometers” are destroyed, and we spend a lifetime desperately trying to fit into a World that we no longer feel a part of.

I would postulate that this is tantamount to torture.

Children are told from birth that they are “sinful” and unworthy.This fear is further instilled in them with the requirement of regular “confession” where they are subjected to more stripping of self worth and value.
They will tell you their job is to “save souls” and would not even deny that this life for people is only in preparation for the next. 
Greater importance is always  placed on the good of the church, with the individual being of little consequence.
Abuse survivors are simply seen as collateral damage.

When I was a child of five, I was told to kneel and pray for a cousin of mine to die. He was about to embark upon marriage to a divorcee, and his Mother, my Aunt, was told by her priest that he would be better dead than “living in sin”
and that we should all pray that he had a “happy death”
So from the age of five I believed that every time I transgressed, someone  would be praying for me to die. My experience  is by no means untypical.

That I would postulate is tantamount to torture.

Being sexually abused by a priest is not something that should ever be trivialized, but  being abused  by a priest was not seen as of the importance as the image of the church.
I was made to feel “sacrificial”, of no consequence.
This is a typical feeling of clergy abuse victims, and
I would postulate is tantamount to torture.

Rape is not just about sex, it is about power, and the catholic church has used it’s vast power to subjugate human beings in many ways throughout history. 
We daily hear stories of appalling abuses, sexual abuse  and physical violence. 
Babies being removed from vulnerable women who have often been raped.
Older people who, in their sixties want to know who they are, after being shipped off to other countries as babies  by catholic agencies.
Children of priests who are not recognised. 
These are real human tragedies which we receive daily from all over the World.
There has as yet been no real investigation into the terror caused by sadistic catholic nuns, the violence and humiliation. 
It is well evidenced that being subjected to violence , or to even witness violence to others will cause lasting brain damage to a human being.
The sheer volume of these experiences is no doubt tantamount to torture. 
The church will tell  you that they are being persecuted, they will also tell you of their worldwide  good works, making victims of their abuses appear guilty of damaging  their “charitable mission”.
They will say our evidence is “anecdotal” , they will not tell you that the figures they use are of priests prosecuted knowing full well that the majority  get away with their crimes either because of their constant use of legal loopholes and delaying tactics, or because victims have been silenced or are too damaged to continue.
The church  will fail to tell you how they continue to defend their crimes regardless of the UN CRC report, often aggressively, even attacking and smearing victim groups.

They continue to behave in exactly the same way as the Committee for the Rights of the Child has accused them of in their report in January 2014.by placing the face of the church above the needs of victims.

The hundreds of thousands of abused people worldwide having to witness  these tactics, feel further abandoned and disenfranchised

I would postulate that this is tantamount to torture.

Scientific research proves that  childhood clergy sexual abuse causes physical and permanent brain damage, it also proves damage to the person’s metabolic and immune systems and shortens life spans.It  shows that damage can be passed on even to future generations. 
If that were not bad enough, then the hundreds of thousands of damaged human beings living with that knowledge and seeing it trivialised and dismissed is, I would postulate, tantamount to torture.

Sue Cox Survivors Voice Europe. 

Survivors Voice Europe have taken reports of sexual abuse from survivors around the world. We gave evidence to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in relation the Holy See. Our evidence and requests for action have thankfully been acknowledged and supported by the committee in its report (Concluding observations on the second periodic report of the Holy See (CRC/C/VAT/CO/2) 31st January 2014.

Rape and sexual offenses against children have been recognised as torture and we ask the committee to accept that the submissions we made to the UNCRC are relevant to the committee considering the Holy See's position on torture. These issues will be highlighted below.

We also ask the committee to take into consideration two further issues upon which we consider the Holy See should be taken to task.

First the Holy See exposes its followers to psychological harm. Its followers are locked in to feelings of chronic fear of sin, guilt and worry by church teaching. The church requires its congregation to confess their sins to priests and to seek forgiveness under fear of being barred from entering heaven and being instead cast into eternal damnation.  This is a regime of coercion.  Whilst we acknowledge that there will be many of its congregation who are not psychologically affected by these psychological and idealogical threats we have certainly met many who truly live in fear of being judged a sinner by their priest. Indeed we have met those who even fear reporting sexual abuse for fear of reprisals in this life or the next from the church.

Second 30 million Africans have died from HIV AIDS in the last twenty years.  Millions of Catholics live in areas affected.  Rather than protecting its congregation the church has opted to pursue a narrow doctrine of eschewing contraception and the use of condoms. Successive Popes since the 1980’s have ignored the obvious capacity it has to change its view and to save lives. We urge the committee to consider this failure to even attempt to save lives as constituting a wrongdoing comes within the convention and to urge the Holy See to take positive action to alter its teaching on the issue. A change in its behaviour on this issue would undoubtedly save significant numbers of lives.

We would like members of the committee to know that during the CRC process we were inundated with letters and messages from desperate survivors of clergy abuse from all over the world who, on hearing of the UNCRC saw a glimmer of hope in their struggle against their abusers in the church.
Survivors Voice Europe represents hundreds of courageous survivors of child sexual abuse. It has become clear throughout our research of the response of the Holy See (“HS”) to various allegations in many countries that the Holy See's position has been diametrically opposed to accepted safeguarding practice.
At no point has the Holy See been willing to be open and honest about the extent of the abuse they have discovered within their organisation. They have hidden the statistics from us, from lawyers around the world, from police and civil authorities and the UNCRC recognised that figures were being hidden from them in January 2014.
The tactic of the Holy See appears to have been :-
1) To enforce secrecy via the 1962 Crimen document and subsequent reassertions by 3 separate Popes of the necessity for secrecy (2001, 2010, and 2013);
2) To impose ludicrously feeble penalties on offending priests;
3) To fail to report pedophiles to the police and civil authorities;
4) To challenge law suits vigorously;
5) To protect priests against whom allegations are made (and thereby expose future children to the risk of sexual abuse from priests who in the civil legal system be imprisoned);
6) To refuse to disclose the details of the size of the problem or how the Holy See has tackled it since 1990. 
Please note that the recent announcement by the Pope in December 2013 of an inquiry is a cynical attempt to persuade the UNCRC that it will now finally take action. The contrary is the case. Rather than acknowledge and engage with the detailed work done by the UNCRC when preparing its report and recommendations, the Holy See has sought to avoid taking any positive action in response. 
In an interview on 5th March 2014, the Pope said the following on clerical child abuse:
"Abuse cases are horrific because they leave the deepest wounds. Benedict XVI has been very courageous and opened a path. The [Catholic] Church has moved very far along this path. Possibly more than most. Statistics on the phenomenon of child abuse are astonishing, but they also show clearly that the great majority of abuse takes place within the family and amongst neighbors. The Catholic Church is probably the only public institution that has acted with transparency and a sense of responsibility. No-one else has done more. And yet the [Catholic] Church is the only institution to have been attacked."
This short passage is remarkable for its aloofness, its shameless attempt to downplay the seriousness of the abuse by drawing invalid comparison with the family (who of course have not signed up to the UN Treaty).  The Holy See's leader has failed to acknowledge the worldwide clerical child rape of children on an almost industrial scale for decades. His comments are hardly a display of the transparency demanded by the UNCRC in its report. Rather than announcing constructive action he seeks to defend his organisation and maintains his organisation's uncompromising position.
One would have expected any other organisation or government to engage a task force to take action to implement the recommendations of such a distinguished committee yet the Holy See have shown no signs of changing course. This response may prove portentous of its approach to the present committee.
We recommend the committee to require the Holy See to take the following action :-
1) To issue a decree to bishops and all orders to ensure that the UNCRC takes precedence over canon law and that canon law is amended accordingly and to issue a decree to reverse the incompatible elements of the 1962 crimen decree, the 2001 apostolic letter and the 2010 gravioribus decree.
2) To instruct the HS to publicly instruct all dioceses and orders :
 a) to instigate child protection measures that require without exception that credible allegations of abuse are immediately reported to secular enforcement agencies, and to post notices in all establishments giving contact details of external child support agencies, and to undertake this process using independent staff
b) to make the failure to report to secular enforcement authorities reasonable suspicion of abuse by other priests or religious a disciplinary offence which, without exception, leads to dismissal.
3) to forbid the HS from destroying any files or records relating to suspected abuse (including those relating to canonical trial).
4) To require the HS to produce an accurate list of priests and religious moved to different countries or dioceses as a result of concerns about abuse of minors since it's accession to the convention, showing names, dates, countries, and in each case the measures taken (if any) to ensure they were prohibited from having access to minors.
5) To require the HS to submit a report on all dioceses and orders declaring bankruptcy or creditor protection, quantifying the extent to which abuse victim compensation has been reduced by this and whether the HS will make up this shortfall and if not why not.
6) To require the HS to initiate a program for educating children about their rights under the Convention and optional protocols.
 7) To require background checks and psychological assessments by independent specialists before admitting clergy to positions of contact with children and vulnerable adults.
 8) We strongly recommend the UNCRC to appoint a permanent special investigation panel and team to investigate breaches of the UNCRC by the HS on this subject. This panel is to have power to require the production of evidence whether written or oral from any priest or religious controlled by the HS. The panel is to report it's findings to the committee every 6 months for the committee to assess appropriate action. This panel is also to make recommendations to the committee on how the HS should deal with compensating and assisting survivors of priest and religious abuse.
 9)  that the Holy See amend its canon laws and internal rules to ensure compliance with the convention.
10) that the Holy See adopts the recommendations made by the UNCRC in its second periodical report (CRC/C/VAT/CO/2) 31st January 2014.
11) that the Holy See takes action to alleviate the psychological distress that can be caused by its policies of indoctrination in relation to the concept of sin, confession, absolution and hell.
12) that the Holy See takes appropriate action to alter its teaching on the use of condoms.
It may be worth adding that the committee may now understand and be willing to assist with the referral of Joseph Ratzinger (and others working in the Vatican's Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith) to the international criminal court in respect of complicity with cover ups which have allowed priests and religious to continue abusing unchallenged by their own organisation.
David Greenwood 
Lawyer For Survivors Voice Europe