In pics: Protesters in Italy demand action on sexual abuses in Catholic Church
Sexual abuse at Italy church
Members of a sexual abuse victim group hold a flash mob outside the Vatican embassy to Italy, to call for an investigation into sexual abuse in the Italian Catholic Church, in Rome, Italy
Francesco Zanardi,
Francesco Zanardi, 51, a victim of church sexual abuse, and founder and president of Rete l'Abuso (The Abuse Network), poses for a photograph after holding a flash mob outside the Vatican embassy to Italy, calling for an investigation into sexual abuse in the Italian Catholic Church
Grabbing attention to abuses
They said they took inspiration from a protest staged in the Estonian capital Tallinn in April which sought to draw attention to alleged violence committed by invading Russian forces against women in Ukraine. In that protest demonstrators applied fake blood to their underwear and down their legs.
Debate over full-scale probe
Italian bishops are divided over whether an eventual full-scale investigation should be internal, using existing resources such as diocesan anti-abuse committees, or be conducted by an outside group, potentially comprising academics, lawyers and abuse experts
A protester with a nun's veil on her head
Federica Tourn, member of a sexual abuse victim group, participates in a flash mob outside the Vatican embassy to Italy.
Italian bishops are also divided over whether it should be confined to the recent past or go back decades.
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi
66-year-old Cardinal Matteo Zuppi has been named by Pope Francis to initiate a study into clerical child sex abuse over the last 20 years. But survivors said it fell short of an independent inquiry.
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