Holy flirkin' snit

Vatican 'ordered abuse cover-up'

A secret Vatican document, outlining procedures for handling allegations of sex abuse by priests, has been published in the US and UK.

Lawyers acting for alleged victims of abuse say the document proves that for decades the Vatican has systematically obstructed the course of justice in order to protect Catholic priests.

Church lawyers, on the other hand, argue that the document referred only to church law and did not order bishops to engage in criminal cover-ups.

Read some of the excerpts from the Vatican document and form your own opinions. But note at the bottom

Our Most Holy Father John XXIII, in an audience granted to the most eminent Cardinal Secretary of the Holy Office on 16 March 1962, deigned to approve and confirm this instruction, ordering upon those to whom it pertains to keep and observe it in the minutest detail.

Pretty darn surreal.