The new Archbishop of Sydney has urged disillusioned Catholic to return and “help us to be a better Church”.
At his installation Mass last week, Archbishop Anthony Fisher vowed to improve the Church’s record on safeguarding children.
He said the Church would emerge from a period of intense public scrutiny about clerical child abuse “humbler, more compassionate and spiritually regenerated”.
Archbishop Fisher apologised for sexual abuse committed by clergy, spoke of survivors’
“harrowing experiences” and the “shameful deeds of some clergy”.
He also mentioned “serious failures of some leaders to respond”.
The Catholic Church in Australia has been grilled at a Royal Commission on abuse, as well as at various state level inquiries.