400 priests defrocked by Pope Benedict
Pope Benedict XVI defrocked nearly 400 priests in two years for molesting children, a document obtained by the Associated Press shows.
The statistics for 2011-12 represent the first time that the Vatican has provided details on the number of priests who have been defrocked. Prior to that, it had only revealed the number of alleged cases of sexual abuse it had received.
The document was prepared from data the Vatican had been collecting to help the Holy See defend itself before a UN committee in Geneva, Switzerland, this week.
Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican’s UN ambassador in Geneva, referred to just one of the statistics in the course of eight hours of often pointed criticism and questioning from the UN human rights committee. The AP obtained the document today.
