Australia’s Catholic bishops seem to have learned little from the sexual abuse scandal and its associated cover-ups. Pushed by a royal commission report to implement reforms, they recently reverted to standard operating procedures of delay and secrecy in suppressing a major report on governance reform. While hoping to delay and control discussion, the bishops were Read more
Australia’s bishops and religious are considering recommendations for changing the governance of the Church. If implemented, the wide-ranging recommendations would reshape the administrative and financial control of dioceses and parishes. These controls would be reallocated between the clergy and laypeople, with an increased role for women. Last month Australia’s bishops considered the report, “The Light Read more
Cardinal George Pell has expressed surprise at some of the views about his actions after being severely criticised by the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Pell says the Commission’s views “are not supported by the evidence”. The Commission’s findings were made public in 2017. However, a court redacted the report Read more
The Melbourne Archdiocese compensation plan may find itself facing increasingly large payouts to clergy abuse victims. The current plan was designed to limit financial damage to the Church by having clergy sex abuse survivors sign away their rights to sue the Church. Known as the Melbourne Response, compensation payments were initially capped at $50,000 when Read more
The Australian royal commission is over, but there is still a long way for us to travel so that we might stand together in solidarity committed to justice, truth and healing for all, for the living and for the dead. We are unlikely as a Church or as a society to get this right for Read more
The Australian Catholic Church has welcomed Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s apology to survivors of institutional child sexual abuse and recommitted to working with the community to eliminate child sexual abuse. Leaders of Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) and the Australian Catholic Bishops released a statement after the prime minister’s address to parliament saying: ““The National Apology Read more
One of the 11 members of the Catholic Church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council (TJHC) has delivered a sharp and wide-ranging criticism of the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse, describing it as “a flawed body” and its final report “a flawed document”. On the day that the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Read more
The President of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference Archbishop Mark Coleridge said at a press conference last Friday that priests will not break the seal of confession, even if that means they might face criminal charges. “We don’t believe it will make children safer, and in certain cases, we think it could make children less safe. Read more
A senior executive of the Catholic Super Fund (CSF) has fallen foul of the Australian Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry. The Royal Commission, which was established last December, heard Robert Clancy had taken five years to admit he had a family relationship with the principles of Australian Family Read more
More thought is needed before passing a law requiring priests in Australia to break the confessional seal to report cases of child sex abuse, says Victoria’s attorney general Martin Pakula. In his view the government needs to further consider 24 of the recommendations made by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Read more