It is presently reviewing the clerical and hierarchical models that have failed dioceses and parishes during the ongoing child sex abuse crisis.

Collegial models would see the significant participation of laypeople says Jack de Groot, who is a member of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference and Catholic Religious Australia six-person review committee.

De Groot says this would enable leveraging lay people's expertise and would aim to bring gender parity to the running of the church in a country that has been at the forefront of dealing with child sex abuse.

He thinks it is clear that the current model of church governance does not work.

"There are tensions in finding a governance model, in the Gospel imperative of looking after the poorest of the poor, the most marginalised people in society and how we do this within financial best practice and by offering the best in class in terms of quality and impact," he says.

He notes it all must be done "with accountability and with a view to what is the right thing to do consistently".

"The review is about how do we bring more accountability, more transparency into the process of decision-making - and critically about who participates in that decision-making ," he says.

"We need the best of governance in corporate and government institutions and more," he said. "As we change things, we have to bring people along, but the work has really already begun in areas like safeguarding. People have instituted good practices ... that take safeguarding seriously and diligently."

De Groot says the review is the Church's first major move to implement the recommendations of Australia's Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse.

The Royal Commission criticised the Catholic Church, other religious groups and both state and non-state secular organisations and institutions.

Source

• The Tablet
• Image: YouTube

The Australian Catholic bishops and religious congregations established the new advisory group.

Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne says the new Implementation Advisory Group will monitor and progress the response to the findings of the Royal Commission on Child Sex Abuse.

It will also monitor the Church's response to recommendations of the Truth, Justice and Healing Council.

Last week, Hart and Sr Ruth Durick, the president of Catholic Religious Australia, said three key groups will now be working together.

The advisory group is composed of Catholic Professional Standards Ltd (which is an independent not-for-profit company), a National Redress Reference Group and the Implementation Advisory Group.

Jack de Groot, CEO of the St Vincent de Paul Society in New South Wales, will chair the advisory group.

He says its role is "to provide leadership by influencing all Catholic organisations - whether lay, religious or episcopal - in ensuring that we move to build a healthy culture that lives from a theology that has learned the lessons of the child abuse tragedy."

In addition to de Groot, the members of the Implementation Advisory Group are:

• Ms Kerryn Boland - Former Children's Guardian in NSW
• Professor Anne Cummins - Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Australian Catholic University
• Sister Berniece Loch RSM OAM - Former president of Catholic Religious Australia and former leader of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea
• Ms Kath McCormack AM - Former member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors
• Bishop Robert McGuckin - Bishop of Toowoomba
• Justice Neville Owen - Member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, former chair of the Truth Justice and Healing Council and former Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

The members have already had a meeting at which they identified a work programme. This includes:

• Relationship with and spiritual support of survivors
• Governance and Church culture
• Child-focused standards
• National Redress Scheme
• Seal of confessional and mandatory reporting
• Handling of abuse complaints.

Source

• Vatican News
• Catholic Outlook
• Image: YouTube