The Vatican has refused to provide information requested by the United Nations on alleged sexual abuse of children by priests,nuns or monks saying the cases are the responsibility of the judicial systems of the countries where abuse took place.
The BBC reports the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child put a wide-ranging questionnaire to the Holy See last July, asking for detailed information about all sexual abuse cases notified to the Vatican since 1995.
The questions included whether those guilty of sexual crime were allowed to remain in contact with children, what legal action had been taken against them, whether the Catholic Church required clergy to report abuse to secular authorities and whether complainants were silenced.
In its response, the Holy See insisted that it was separate and distinct from the Roman Catholic Church, and that isn't practice to disclose information unless specifically requested by the authorities in individual countries.