VATICAN CITY (AP) – Members of the amorphous hacking group Anonymous claimed Wednesday to have taken down the Vatican website to protest everything from Catholic doctrine to the sexual abuse of children.

Rev. Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, confirmed the attack but wouldn't elaborate further.

The site, www.vatican.va, was inaccessible for much of Wednesday afternoon and evening.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, confirmed the attack but declined to comment on its possible source. He said he didn't know how long it would take the Vatican's technicians to bring the site back up.

In what claims to be the "official" site of Anonymous in Italy, a statement posted Wednesday said the group was attacking the Vatican to protest the execution of heretics and the burning of books during the Inquisition and more recently the sexual abuse of children by priests.