There was a catastrophic failure of leadership in the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat’s handling of clergy child sex abuse, says Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse. The Commission’s report says a culture of secrecy and failures in the church’s structure led to children being abused across the diocese over a number of decades. Read more
Cardinal George Pell has said he is willing to travel to Ballarat to give evidence at a royal commission that is hearing horrendous accounts of child abuse. Abuse victims have called on Cardinal Pell to give evidence to the inquiry to answer questions about the Church’s response to the abuse. “So far I have not Read more
Ten victims of a paedophile Australian priest have started proceedings in the Victorian Supreme Court against the retired Bishop of Ballarat. They accuse Bishop Ronal Mulkearns and the Diocese of Ballarat of negligence for allegedly failing to protect them and other victims, despite being aware of complaints against Fr Gerard Ridsdale. Ridsdale was convicted in Read more