United Nations Demands the Catholic Church Drop to Her Knees

For those who read history, the term -Stalinism- comes to mind

Call this a prediction that I bet will come true: The Holy See and the Catholic Church will, in the near future, be called before the International Court of Justice to answer for its history of crimes against children. The United Nations will be the prime mover in this, but liberal elites in the United States will be doing all they can to bring the Church to Her knees.

WASHINGTON,DC (Catholic Online) - On Wednesday, February 6, 2014, the United Nations dropped a media bomb on the Catholic Church. One might call it the media equivalent of a nuclear attack: Headlines filled the Internet starting with phrases like:

"UN panel blasts Vatican handling of clergy sex abuse, church teachings on gays, abortion." (Washington Post)

"Kick out those who sexually abuse children, U.N. panel tells Vatican."
(CNN)

"UN Blasts Vatican on Sex Abuse." (Boston Globe)

"Vatican policies allowed priests to rape, molest children, UN committee says." (Detroit Free Press)

"Vatican systematically allowed priests to rape children, says UN report."
(Toronto Star)

The number of hits after googling the words, UN report-Vatican-sex abuse,  goes on for dozens of pages, with not a single headline suggesting the UN's report was inaccurate, nefarious, and, breathtakingly arrogant.

Here are some facts about the 15-page report issued Wednesday by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (with thanks again to Bill Donohue for sorting out this nonsense, but dangerous nonsense nonetheless):

1.    The report makes a series of accusations against the Holy See without supporting evidence of any footnotes, endnotes, or attributions of any kind. In other words, sheer assertion without either argument or evidence. For those who read history, the term "Stalinism" comes to mind. 

2.    The United Nations demands that the Holy See submit itself to UN authority in matters pertaining not only to children's rights but also to homosexuality and abortion.  As Donohue puts it, the report "does provide plenty of evidence as to its real agenda."

3.    The United Nations demands the Catholic Church make changes to Canon Law to bring it into conformity with policies and ideology of guess who? - the United Nations. Just when you think you've seen the worst of this topsy-turvy world, such as the President of the United States dismissing the dangers of smoking marijuana, you see this. You shake your head, you clear your throat, and you want to throw up, or laugh, either one or the other.

4.    The report, again I am using Donohue's analysis, says the Holy See should "undertake the necessary steps to withdraw all its reservations and to en-sure the [U.N.] Convention's precedence over internal laws and regulations." (the report's emphasis.)

5.    Just in case the implications of #4 weren't clear enough, read this: "The Committee recommends that the Holy See undertake a comprehensive review of its normative framework, in particular Canon Law, with a view to ensuring its full compliance with the Convention." The Catholic Church must bend Her knee to the authority of the United Nations.

As Bill Donohue puts it, "Hubris is too mild a word to describe this unmitigated arrogance." To any fair-minded, informed, sensible person, this report should make a laughing stock of the United Nations. The report itself should raise questions about the integrity of the UN and its ideological will-to-power.  But, alas, the media is all too willing to comply.

6.    The report demands that Catholic schools alter their textbooks to eliminate "gender stereotypes." Although, as Donohue points out, there is no evidence put forward that such stereotypes even exist.

7.    Don't laugh: The report demands the Vatican initiate "awareness programs" for those who work with children. As Donohue points out, there is no mention of any other religious community or the public schools, where the problem goes largely unreported. 

8.    Again, don't laugh: The report tells the Vatican to amend Canon Law and Vatican City State laws to "end corporal punishment." Bill Donohue, indeed, does have a sense of humor when he says the UN is "too busy wondering if Sister Mary Alice is taking a ruler to a miscreant student to mention the 10,000 Syrian children who have been killed and tortured the last three years."

9.    This fact is very telling: The report tells the Catholic Church to eliminate "baby boxes," those boxes next to orphanages where women who cannot care for their newborns make sure that they will be raised and nurtured. What's the alternative to a "baby box?" None, other than abortion, which is what the United Nations aggressively promotes worldwide with U.S tax dollars.

10.    Final fact: Call this a prediction that I bet will come true: The Holy See and the Catholic Church will, in the near future, be called before the International Court of Justice to answer for its history of crimes against children. The United Nations will be the prime mover in this, but liberal elites in the United States will be doing all they can to bring the Church to Her knees.

© Deal W. Hudson, Ph.D

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Deal W. Hudson is president of the Morley Institute of Church and Culture, Senior Editor and Movie Critic at Catholic Online, and former publisher and editor of Crisis Magazine.This column and subsequent contributions are an excerpt from a forthcoming book. Dr. Hudson's new radio show, Church and Culture, will begin broadcasting in February on the Ave Maria Radio Network.

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