Tainted leaders must go for Church's trust to be restored

Tainted leaders must go before Church’s trust restored

Tuesday, October 29th, 2013

As more than 100 new complaints of sexual abuse by Victorian clergy flood in, a leading lawyer warns the Catholic Church in Australia will not win back public trust and confidence until its current “tainted” leaders have gone.

The baton needs to be passed on to another generation, one untainted by what has gone on, Professor Patrick Parkinson said.

Speaking at the annual Smith lecture in Sydney on Thursday night, the University of Sydney lawyer, a non-Catholic, declared there were still some rotten apples among the church’s hierarchy.

“There are those still apparently who fail to understand their civic duty as citizens of this country to cooperate with the police,” he said.

“There are those I have met whose greatest concern would appear to be to protect their organisation from scandal rather than children in their care.

“There are those who would aspire now to tough out the parliamentary inquiry in Victoria, to tough out the Hunter Valley-Newcastle inquiry, to tough out the royal commission.”

Professor Parkinson said that while no denomination was free from reproach, the Catholic Church had abused far more children than any other.

“The church needs to find a way to remove its rotten apples from leadership and influence,” he said.

“Until that happens I don’t believe the church can recover the trust and respect of the Australian community.”

Addressing the increased number of sexual abuse complaints, Spokesman for the Archdiocese of Melbourne, Father Shane Mackinlay says public forums such as the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child abuse have encouraged victims to come forward.

“I think one of the things about that is that it is really good to see that victims have got the courage to come forward and that is clearly one of the benefits that the inquiry and the Royal Commission has brought,” he said.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Ken Lay says police will investigate the new abuse cases and the church needs to pass on all evidence.

Sources