The Vatican released comprehensive records of sexual abuse cases for the first time on May 6, explaining ways in which it has disciplined priests accused of molesting and raping children. According to the statistics, 2,572 priests have been sanctioned and 848 have been defrocked over the last ten years.

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, revealed the figures on the second day of investigation by a U.N. committee set up to monitor the implementation of a U.N. treaty against torture. Though Tomasi initially insisted the convention applied to the Vatican City state alone, he eventually released statistics about the Holy See adjudicating cases of sexual abuse across the world. Most importantly, Tomasi did not dispute the committee’s stand that sexual violence against children is considered torture.

According to the records, since 2004, over 3,400 cases of abuse have been referred to the Vatican, with 401 cases being reported in 2013 alone. Tomasi acknowledged that a high number of priests were sanctioned a less severe punishment than they deserved. He assured the committee that these abusers have been put in a place where they have no contact with children.

Tomasi clarified on Tuesday that the data released earlier in the year were incomplete but the latest release, the first ever year-by-year breakdown of how many cases have been adjudicated, is complete.

“There is no climate of impunity but there is a total commitment to clean the house and prevent more abuse… I think we have crossed a threshold so to say in our evolution of the approach to these problems. It's clear that the issue of sexual abuse of children, which is a worldwide plague and scourge, has been addressed in the last 10 years by the church in a systematic, comprehensive, constructive way,” Tomasi said.

Photo Credits: Milliped