The Holy See and the Convention of the Rights of the Child in the Republic of the Philippines

Supplementary NGO report to the Philippines second periodic report on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child submitted by Catholics For a Free Choice (CFFC). The CFFC is an NGO with special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council. Since 2002, CFFC has partnered with national-level child rights organisations to produce and submit shadow reports on clergy sexual abuse of minors to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. This specific report assesses how the laws of the Holy See impact the Roman Catholic church in the Philippines and compromise the laws of the Philippines that seek to protect children. Examples of clergy abuse and how they were dealt with by the church and secular authorities are presented. The Report also shows how the laws of the Holy See undercut national laws, leaving children and young people at risk of abuse by clergy.