A U.N. committee compared the Vatican's handling of the global priest sex abuse scandal with torture Monday, raising the possibility that its failure to investigate clergy and their superiors could have broader legal implications.
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Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, left, Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See (Vatican) to the Office of the United Nations in Geneva, speaks with Claudio Grossmann, right, Chairperson of UN Committee against Torture, prior the UN torture committee hearing on the Vatican, at the headquarters of the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the Palais Wilson, in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, May 5, 2014. The UN Committee Against Torture hears the Holy See for the first time to consider whether the church's handling of child sexual abuse complaints has violated its obligations against subjecting minors to torture and to hear the Vatican on its efforts to stamp out child sex abuse by priests.
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Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, left, Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See (Vatican) to the Office of the United Nations in Geneva, delivers his statement during the UN torture committee hearing on the Vatican, at the headquarters of the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the Palais Wilson, in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, May 5, 2014. The UN Committee Against Torture hears the Holy See for the first time to consider whether the church's handling of child sexual abuse complaints has violated its obligations against subjecting minors to torture and to hear the Vatican on its efforts to stamp out child sex abuse by priests.
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Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, left, Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See (Vatican) to the Office of the United Nations in Geneva, speaks with Claudio Grossmann, right, Chairperson of UN Committee against Torture, prior the UN torture committee hearing on the Vatican, at the headquarters of the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the Palais Wilson, in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, May 5, 2014. The UN Committee Against Torture hears the Holy See for the first time to consider whether the church's handling of child sexual abuse complaints has violated its obligations against subjecting minors to torture and to hear the Vatican on its efforts to stamp out child sex abuse by priests.
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Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, left, Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See (Vatican) to the Office of the United Nations in Geneva, shakes hand with Claudio Grossmann, right, Chairperson of UN Committee against Torture, prior the UN torture committee hearing on the Vatican, at the headquarters of the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the Palais Wilson, in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, May 5, 2014. The UN Committee Against Torture hears the Holy See for the first time to consider whether the church's handling of child sexual abuse complaints has violated its obligations against subjecting minors to torture and to hear the Vatican on its efforts to stamp out child sex abuse by priests.
