The Vatican’s secretary of state is headlining an international conference on protecting children from online sexual abuse and exploitation, weeks after he recalled one of his diplomats who was caught up in a U.S.-Canadian-Vatican investigation into child porn.

Organizers say the arrest warrant issued for Monsignor Carlo Capella showed the need for the conference, which opens Tuesday and ends Friday, when participants bring a set of proposals to Pope Francis.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin will deliver the keynote address, while panelists include leading researchers in public health and law enforcement as well as executives from Facebook and Microsoft — evidence of the across-the-board realization that the digital age is bringing exponential new threats to children.

Organizer the Rev. Hans Zollner said: “The risks are everywhere. It is not a western problem.”
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