A damning report by the United Nations on the Vatican's handling of child sex abuse cases has increased pressure on the Catholic Church to convince a skeptical international community it has adopted a zero-tolerance approach.

"The Vatican has taken some steps forward, but they have been largely symbolic - energetic words rather than actions. The UN is right to have spoken out so strongly," Vatican commentator Paolo Flores D'Arcais said.

The Vatican was denounced by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on Wednesday for failing to stamp out predatory priests, and urged to hand over known and suspected abusers for prosecution.

The committee's recommendations are non-binding. The report was a bolt from the blue for an institution reveling in the popularity of its new pope, Francis, who has spoken little of the abuse and who appeared to hope the Vatican has left the crisis behind it.

Some Vatican watchers believe much has been done to set an important moral example for wayward clergy.

The accusations "belong to the past. Benedict XVI brought about a great change through his closeness to victims, ... praying and crying with them," said religious observer Andrea Tornielli, who writes for newspaper La Stampa's Vatican Insider website.

But the Vatican's lack of transparency, as it insists on dealing with the scandal behind closed doors, has disappointed victims.

For more than a decade, the Catholic Church has been rocked by a series of scandals worldwide, with victims describing the trauma of abuse at the hands of people charged with their care.

The Vatican says it continues to receive about 600 claims a year against abusive priests, many dating to the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Former pope Benedict apologized in 2010 for the "sinful and criminal" acts committed by members of the clergy, saying he was "truly sorry" and going on to defrock 400 offenders in 2011 and 2012.

Tense response

His successor Pope Francis has said Catholics should feel "shame" for abuse and has presided over the creation of a commission to investigate sex crimes, enforce prevention and care for victims - but it has yet to begin work.

While several bishops have stepped down over scandals in their dioceses, victims and support groups demand someone be held legally accountable.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests dismissed as inadequate the Vatican's tense response that it has "taken note" of the UN report and will submit it to "a thorough study and examination".

"Bishops don't move predators, shun victims, rebuff prosecutors, shred evidence, intimidate witnesses, discredit whistle-blowers, dodge responsibility, fabricate alibis ... because of inadequate 'study'," the Network said.

"The quickest way to prevent child sexual violence by Catholic clerics is for Pope Francis to publicly remove all offenders from ministry. ... But like his predecessors, he has refused to take even tiny steps in this direction," it said.

Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin spoke of the Vatican's "desire to adhere to the commission's needs".

But frustration over the Vatican's handling of the matter was expressed even by some Catholic groups.

"If the pope is serious about turning the page on this scandal, he should immediately dismiss any bishop who oversaw a diocese in which a priest who abused children was shielded from the civil authorities," said Jon O'Brien, head of the US lobby group Catholics for Choice.

"There can be no place in our Church for bishops or priests who put children at risk. From now on, there must be zero tolerance for bishops who shield child abusers," he said.

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 02/07/2014 page12)