On Tuesday 23 March, Dr Thomas P. Doyle, a US former Dominican priest will appear at the Royal Commission via audiovisual link from the United States. The Royal Commission says Doyle’s submission Firstly sets out the scope and recent history of clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, how canon law applies and how the Read more
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care recently announced it will investigate The Catholic and Anglican churches. It is also going to be carrying out a separate inquiry into Marylands a residential school for boys, many with learning disabilities. But other investigations into faith-based institutions are also going to be set up, as Read more
The Catholic Church in Aotearoa New Zealand has welcomed the publication of details of the case study inquiry into the former Marylands School in Christchurch announced by the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care. Marylands was a residential school for children with learning difficulties, run between the mid-1950s and 1984 by the Brothers Hospitallers of Read more
The Royal Commission has just made public the details of its inquiry into the Catholic Church. During its investigation, the Royal Commission will select themes, settings or institutions as case studies of abuse. It may conduct research and examine relevant matters in public hearings, roundtables, hui and fono. What happened and why? In considering the Read more
The Royal Commission into Abuse in Care has published documents giving the details of its investigation into the Catholic Church. They include the Church’s part in faith-based redress for survivors – which will form part of the commission’s Inquiry into the historic abuse of children in the state and faith-based care. Cardinal John Dew, Vice-President Read more
The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry is appealing for information from survivors who reported the abuse they suffered while in faith-based care and sought redress either directly from the Church or other Faith-based Institution or by filing civil proceedings in Court or the Human Rights Review Tribunal. In a recent press release, the Read more
A secret report being considered by Australia’s bishops wants unprecedented reform in the church. The reforms aim to make the church more inclusive and break down the structures that contributed to decades of clergy abuse and cover-ups. The church could be “dramatically overhauled” to give lay people more power, increase the number of women in Read more
The Royal Commission investigating historic abuse in care has quietly suspended meetings of the group of survivors set up to advise it. The inquiry told survivor advisory group members in December that meetings would not be happening for the “foreseeable future”. Instead, the Royal Commission says it’s seeking advice from individual members and smaller working Read more
Victoria’s Attorney-General, Jill Hennessy, says there are no legal impediments to the release of unredacted portions of the findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews says he thinks it’s “very important that those documents be released and that those victims know and understand exactly what was Read more
This should have been a heroic first year for the $80 million inquiry. It wasn’t, unfortunately, and there were rather a few too many occasions when it seemed as if – adapting the words of the 18th century English essayist Horace Walpole – everything has been at sea except the fleet. While striving to get Read more