The Australian delegation - which included Denis Hart, Archbishop of Melbourne, Mark Coleridge, Archbishop of Brisbane and Justice Neville Owen of the Truth, Justice and Healing Council - discussed "the restoration of trust" amid sex abuse allegations.

Current allegations before the court in Australia involve Australian cardinal George Pell, a top adviser to the pope.

Pell is currently on leave of absence from his position as the Vatican's chief financial officer, facing historical sex abuse charges. He has steadfastly denied his involvement in any sex abuse.

A press release from the Holy See says a number of topics were covered at the Australian bishops' meetings. They included the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the relationship between the Church and society at large, the restoration of trust, and greater participation of the laity in decision-making roles in the Church.

Source

• Vatican Radio
• Washington Post
• Image: YouTube

Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart is declining to comment on remarks made by the schools last week that seemed to support gay marriage. The Australian Bishops Commission for Catholic Education is also choosing to keep silent.

While the schools have not definitely said they'd vote for gay marriage, they have noted Pope Francis' teachings on love, mercy and non-judgement in messages to staff, students and parents.

Father Chris Middleton, the rector of Xavier, says the Church should to look at the support among the youth for marriage equality.

'In my experience, there is almost total unanimity amongst the young in favour of same-sex marriage, and arguments against will have almost no impact on them,' he says.

He added that young people were driven by a 'strong emotional commitment to equality'. This is something to respect and admire, he says.

In the opinion of St Ignatius' rector Father Ross Jones, Catholic couples can 'in good conscience' have sexual relationships for reasons besides procreation under the 'order of reason' school of Natural Law.

Presumably, same-sex couples, who make such a commitment to each other in good conscience, do so by reflecting on experience and on what it is to be human, using their God-given reason, he says.

Pope Francis wrote in Amoris Laetitia that a person's "individual conscience needs to be incorporated into the Church's praxis in certain situations which do not objectively embody our understanding of marriage".

The Catholic Church teaches that sexual relations are reserved for married couples - consisting of one man and one woman - in the context of sacramental marriage.

"In forming a response to this issue, a properly formed and informed conscience would take into account both the teachings of the Church about the sacrament of marriage, as well as the teachings of the Church about human dignity, which of course includes LGBTI people," St Ignatius school said in a joint statement attributed to Fr Jones and school principal Paul Hine.

"A discerned response to these issues means holding all of these teachings together," they said.

Source

• Daily Mail
• The New Daily
• LifeSite
• The Herald
• Image: ABC

The accusation comes in the Victorian state government's report on child sex abuse.

Launching the report in the Victoria State Parliament, inquiry chairwoman, Georgie Crozier spoke of "a betrayal beyond comprehension" and of children suffering "unimaginable harm".

The Age reports that committee member Andrea Coote said the Catholic Church had

• minimised the problem,
• trivialised the problem,
• kept the community in ignorance, and
• ensured that perpetrators were not held accountable, so that children continued to be abused.

"With the notable exception of Father Kevin Dillon [the Geelong priest who gave evidence], we found that today's church leaders view the current question of abuse of children as a 'short-term embarrassment' which should be handled as quickly as possible to cause the least damage to the church's standing. They do not see the problems as raising questions about the church's own culture," she said.

Ms Coote accused the Australian Catholic hierarchy of a failure to 'walk the talk'; their values being in contrast to the stated values of the Church.

She said the Church had developed a "sliding morality", compartmentalising issues to avoid the obvious moral conflicts.

The Committee is calling for change.

Victorian Premier, Dr Denis Napthine called on the religious involved to hold their heads in shame.

He said the State Government will take up the committee's recommendations and will immediately begin drafting legislation to

• make a new criminal offence for 'grooming' a child
• make a new child endangerment offence
• remove the statute of limitations on offences
• make it a crime to conceal child abuse offences

While supporting the Committee's key recommendations, Archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart disagreed with the comment the Church hierarchy viewed child-abuse as a short-term embarrassment.

He said he thought the has made good progress in handling matters of sexual abuse, but could do better.

Committee members were greeted warmly when they left the chamber.

Sources

• The Age
• Image: The Australian

On Tuesday Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu announced a year-long parliamentary enquiry into the handing of criminal abuse of children.

The government has been under pressure to hold the enquiry since it came to office and finally bowed to public pressure with the revelations of dozens of suicides linked to sexual abuse by priests.

However the enquiry has already been undermined with deputy chairman of the Victoria Parliament's family and community development committee, Frank McGuire, saying his committee was too inexperienced and the wrong body for the task.

The committee has four of its six members having been in Parliament for less than 18 months.

Victims groups too are unhappy.

John McNally, a former altar boy who was abused by a priest insists he never got justice and says the parliamentary enquiry lacks teeth.

Victim spokeswoman, Nicky Davis warned that the enquiry might lead to more suicides amongst victims if it doesn't go far enough.

"Every victim has that battle with suicide ... if they are blocked again it could push some over the edge," she said.

"After the unadulterated joy of thinking, at last we will be listened to and not drowned out by church lies, comes the realisation we have been set up and given a poisoned chalice."

"We are going to try to all work together to fight this, and to get it changed to something with at least a chance of justice."

Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart and Bellarrat Bishop, Peter Connors have undertaken to co-operate with the enquiry.

"I reaffirm the Archdiocese's position that we have nothing to hide from such an independent inquiry, and I am confident that any inquiry into the Archdiocese's Melbourne Response process will confirm this," Hart said in a statement.

"My clear, and often stated, preference is for allegations of criminal conduct to be investigated by Victoria Police and dealt with in the criminal courts."

"The State, and not the Church, is best placed to deal with these matters."

Sources

• The Age
• The Age
• The Age
• The Australian
• Media Release: Denis Hart
• Image: The Courier

Most cases concern sexual abuse by Catholic brother, Robert Best and former priest Gerald Ridsdale.

"An inquiry would horrify the community", Vivian Walker told the Australian.

Dr Walker said "there has been an epidemic of abuse going on for a long time and the church has shown a great reluctance to do anything about it."

"The Christian Brothers were aware of the problem and they did nothing about it."

The Archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart, said the Archdiocese has good relations with the Police and promises the Archdiocese will cooperate fully should there be an enquiry.

"I reject absolutely the allegations that the Melbourne Archdiocese has covered up crimes," Hart told journalists.

Archbishop Hart said the church encouraged abuse victims to go to police but respected their right to privacy.

"Whilst it is understandable police want all crimes reported, the church had to weigh this against the right of each victim to make their own decision," he said.

"I believe the whole trauma of the abuse and behaviour of the individuals who are the abusers have wrecked people's lives. It's been very difficult for us ... to arrest that," Hart said.

"That is a source of continued pain to me."

Calls for an enquiry grew on the basis of a report released by Victorian police that details suicides of at least 40 people sexually abused by Catholic clergy.

There have been "an inordinate number of suicides which appear to be a consequence of sexual offending," Detective Sergeant Kevin Carson wrote in his report.

Despite mounting pressure, Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu said he is not yet ready to order an enquiry into what he called "very disturbing claims."

Baillieu said the possibility of an enquiry was on the Victorian Government's agenda; however he was not prepared to preempt the decision of the Victorian Attorney General.

Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton said a submission based on those reports would recommend that the coroner examine the suicides and the response of the church to both the abuse and its aftermath.

Mr Ashton said police were compiling more detailed documents for consideration by the coroner.

"The coroner will examine the broader nature of those suicides and their relevance in relation to the Catholic Church," he told reporters in Melbourne.

"It will be a matter for the coroner as to what she does."

Mr Ashton said it is not fair to say the Catholic Church has been holding things back when they have been asked for them, but, he said, Police believe the onus is on the Church, when they see matters, to let the Police know about them rather than waiting for victims to come to the Police.

Representatives of the Christian Brothers movement were unavailable for comment.

Sources

• The Australian
• ABC Lateline
• SMH
• Herald Sun
• Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne
• Image: ABC Lateline