Benedict DID NOT Defrock Priests!

Rome, Italy The Vatican saw significant media coverage in January for the supposed defrocking of 400 priests by Pope Benedict during his reign in 2011 and 2012. The timing of this development was no coincident, coming just one day after the coverage of the Vatican’s hearing at the U.N. in Geneva. The Vatican attended the UN conference to face questioning regarding their handling of the sex abuse crises. At the UN hearing, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi stated that “Priests are not functionaries of the Vatican”. He continued that they “fall under the jurisdiction of their own country”.