The News

Vatican Urges Online Protections for Kids Amid Porn Scandal 

ROME – The Vatican secretary of state is urging law enforcement agencies, governments and social media sites to take responsibility to protect children from online sexual abuse and exploitation, even as one of his diplomats is caught up in an international child porn investigation.

Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin made the appeal Tuesday at the opening of a Catholic Church-sponsored conference on protecting children from predators in cyberspace.


The conference came just weeks after Parolin recalled a diplomat from the Vatican’s embassy in Washington. Canadian police have issued an arrest warrant accusing Monsignor Carlo Capella of accessing, possessing and distributing child pornography during a visit to an Ontario church over Christmas.

Speaking to reporters before the conference, Parolin called the Capella case “very painful” for all involved.