Vatican defrocks over 800 priests in last decade for child abuse

The Vatican says it has removed over 800 priests in 10 years for the abuse of children.

The figures were revealed during a second day of grilling by a UN committee monitoring implementation of the organisations treaty against torture.

Responding to accusations that it had turned a blind eye to child abuse in the 1960s and 70s, it admitted mistakes had been made but procedures to deal with the problem had now been modernised.

The Vatican maintains that fifty years ago the culture at the time viewed paedophiles as people who could be treated psychologically rather than as criminals – that was an error said the Vatican’s ambassador to Geneva.

Critics claim that predator priests are still being moved to other parishes or even abroad to protect them against criminal charges. EuroNews