Vatican ‘Regrets’ Damning UN Report On Sex Abuse

Kirsten Sandberg, chairperson of the U.N. human rights committee on the rights of the child, talks during a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014. A U.N. ... Kirsten Sandberg, chairperson of the U.N. human rights committee on the rights of the child, talks during a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014. A U.N. human rights committee denounced the Vatican on Wednesday for adopting policies that allowed priests to rape and molest tens of thousands of children over decades, and urged it to open its files on the pedophiles and the churchmen who concealed their crimes. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) MORE LESS
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VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican says it regrets what it calls the attempt by a U.N. committee to interfere with its teaching on abortion and contraception in a damning report on the priestly sex abuse scandal.

The U.N. report on Wednesday said the Vatican should change its rules on abortion and teach sexual education in Catholic schools to ensure children’s rights and their access to health care are guaranteed.

The Vatican said in a statement that it remains committed to defending and protecting the rights of children but that it regrets that the committee had attempted “to interfere with Catholic Church teaching on the dignity of human person and in the exercise of religious freedom.”

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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