Vatican under fire for closed abuse hearings
The Catholic Church has come under fire from child abuse victims of attempting to pervert the course of justice by establishing closed hearings for clergymen accused of child abuse.
The Vatican has issued guidelines on how to handle cases of alleged abuse which say that all incidents should be reported to Rome, where hearings held behind closed doors.
The guidelines do not say whether clergymen found to have committed an offence will be handed over to the civil authorities.
