The Vatican came under blistering criticism from a UN committee for its handling of the global priest sex abuse scandal, facing its most intense public grilling to date over allegations it protected paedophile priests at the expense of victims.

The Vatican has come under blistering criticism from a UN committee for its handling of the global priest sex abuse scandal, facing its most intense public grilling ever over allegations that it protected paedophile priests at the expense of victims.

The Vatican has acknowledged that there can be “no excuse” for child abuse, confronted for the first time at length and in public over the global priest sex abuse scandal.

The Vatican is gearing up for a bruising showdown over the global priest sex abuse scandal, forced for the first time to defend itself at length and in public against allegations it enabled the rape of thousands of children by protecting paedophile priests and its own reputation at the expense of victims.

The most senior Roman Catholic prelate in the US was today expected to meet the Pope at the Vatican amid speculation that he will resign over a priest sex abuse scandal threatening to bankrupt his archdiocese.