A lawyer representing the Catholic Church has been heckled by victims of child sexual abuse and their families on the first day of a public inquiry.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is examining the Towards Healing process established by the Church in 1996.
The process was used to respond to complaints of abuse involving Church personnel.
When the Royal Commission was first announced by the Federal Government, the Catholic Church established the Truth, Justice and Healing Council.
The lawyer representing the Council at the hearing, Peter Gray SC, began his opening remarks by quoting the Gospel of Mark:
"Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such of these that the Kingdom of God belongs."
A group of victims and their relatives in the public gallery began to leave, with one person saying "what a joke". Some were seen outside the hearing in tears.
Mr Gray told the hearing the passage showed the "sacred place of children" within the Catholic faith.
"The Catholic Church comes before this Royal Commission acutely aware of its failures in this fundamental part of its mission," he said.
Maybe, but what has it done to address the systemic failures of priests and bishops, etc, to protect children rather than abuse them? Is there a commission within the church studying this issue?
Is the church a magnet for pedophiles or does it turn good men into pedophiles? One or the other of these statements would appear to be the case, or perhaps both are true.
The hearing has been told the majority of complaints of abuse within the Catholic Church involve incidents at schools, colleges or orphanages.
In her opening address, Counsel-Assisting the Commission Gail Furness SC said certain congregations stand out in the list of complaints.
"Over 60 per cent of all Towards Healing complaints detailed the incident location as a school, college or orphanage," she said.
"The church authority with the largest number of complaints was the Christian Brothers, followed by the Marist Brothers, and then the de La Salle Brothers."
The Christian Brothers were the operators of Newfoundland's infamous Mount Cashel home for Boys (and pedophiles, as it turns out). Canada's largest sexual abuse scandal, and one of the largest in the world was disclosed in 1989. An extensive pattern of sexual and physical abuse of more than 300 orphanage residents perpetrated by staff members, specifically members of the Christian Brothers of Ireland in Canada (CBIC), was uncovered during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Multiple criminal investigations, a provincial government-commissioned Royal Commission of Inquiry (the Hughes Inquiry) and an Archdiocese of St. John's-commissioned inquiry (the Winters Inquiry) resulted in criminal convictions and millions of dollars in court-imposed financial settlements. Compensation was provided by the Government of Newfoundland for orphanage residents who were wards of the state and several properties owned by the CBIC in Newfoundland and Labrador and other provinces were seized and liquidated.
As of May 2009 there were still approximately 50 civil lawsuits being processed by the courts by victims of the sexual and physical abuse at the orphanage. - Wikipedia
The hearing has also been told the Towards Healing process has never been properly researched.
"Despite it being significant in terms of the church's response to sexual abuse, there has been no empirical research published in Australia or internationally, which has systematically evaluated Towards Healing," she said. "That is a matter that this royal commission may consider."
Since Towards Healing was set up, the church has received 2215 complaints up to 30 September 2013, with 1700 people agreeing to participate in the process.
Seventy-six per cent of complaints relate to child sexual abuse between 1950 and 1980.
"A total of $43 million has been paid by all church authorities," the Counsel-Assisting said.
The highest reparation paid to a Towards Healing participant was about $850,000, after a complaint was made involving a diocesan priest with the Archdiocese of Sydney.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is examining the Towards Healing process established by the Church in 1996.
The process was used to respond to complaints of abuse involving Church personnel.
When the Royal Commission was first announced by the Federal Government, the Catholic Church established the Truth, Justice and Healing Council.
The lawyer representing the Council at the hearing, Peter Gray SC, began his opening remarks by quoting the Gospel of Mark:
"Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such of these that the Kingdom of God belongs."
Mr Gray told the hearing the passage showed the "sacred place of children" within the Catholic faith.
"The Catholic Church comes before this Royal Commission acutely aware of its failures in this fundamental part of its mission," he said.
Maybe, but what has it done to address the systemic failures of priests and bishops, etc, to protect children rather than abuse them? Is there a commission within the church studying this issue?
Is the church a magnet for pedophiles or does it turn good men into pedophiles? One or the other of these statements would appear to be the case, or perhaps both are true.
The hearing has been told the majority of complaints of abuse within the Catholic Church involve incidents at schools, colleges or orphanages.
In her opening address, Counsel-Assisting the Commission Gail Furness SC said certain congregations stand out in the list of complaints.
"Over 60 per cent of all Towards Healing complaints detailed the incident location as a school, college or orphanage," she said.
"The church authority with the largest number of complaints was the Christian Brothers, followed by the Marist Brothers, and then the de La Salle Brothers."
The Christian Brothers were the operators of Newfoundland's infamous Mount Cashel home for Boys (and pedophiles, as it turns out). Canada's largest sexual abuse scandal, and one of the largest in the world was disclosed in 1989. An extensive pattern of sexual and physical abuse of more than 300 orphanage residents perpetrated by staff members, specifically members of the Christian Brothers of Ireland in Canada (CBIC), was uncovered during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
 |
| Mount Cashel - destroyed in the early nineties |
As of May 2009 there were still approximately 50 civil lawsuits being processed by the courts by victims of the sexual and physical abuse at the orphanage. - Wikipedia
The hearing has also been told the Towards Healing process has never been properly researched.
"Despite it being significant in terms of the church's response to sexual abuse, there has been no empirical research published in Australia or internationally, which has systematically evaluated Towards Healing," she said. "That is a matter that this royal commission may consider."
Since Towards Healing was set up, the church has received 2215 complaints up to 30 September 2013, with 1700 people agreeing to participate in the process.
Seventy-six per cent of complaints relate to child sexual abuse between 1950 and 1980.
"A total of $43 million has been paid by all church authorities," the Counsel-Assisting said.
The highest reparation paid to a Towards Healing participant was about $850,000, after a complaint was made involving a diocesan priest with the Archdiocese of Sydney.
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