The Australian state of Victoria has reported more than ten times the anticipated number of deaths from assisted suicide and euthanasia in its first legal year. The state of Victoria’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board reported 124 deaths by assisted suicide and euthanasia since 19 June 19, 2019 when the procedure became legal. There were Read more
One of the judges who heard Cardinal George Pell’s appeal says he would have quashed the cardinal’s five convictions for child sex offences. Judge Mark Weinberg says he would have based his decision on a “significant body of cogent evidence” that cast serious doubt on the victim’s account. In his dissenting ruling, Weinberg says the Read more
Leaders of the Australian Catholic Church have been accused of trivialising sex abuse as a “short-term embarrassment. 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 Read more
As more than 100 new complaints of sexual abuse by Victorian clergy flood in, a leading lawyer warns the Catholic Church in Australia will not win back public trust and confidence until its current “tainted” leaders have gone. The baton needs to be passed on to another generation, one untainted by what has gone on, Read more
The Catholic Church in Victoria has revised its figures for the number of people abused by priests and religious, producing a total 37 per cent per cent higher than previously given to the state’s parliamentary inquiry. In a new submission the Church said it has now identified 849 victims and 269 offenders. The previous submission Read more
An apologetic Cardinal George Pell has appeared before a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child abuse and vehemently denied personally covering up offending by priests. “No. Never,” the Sydney cardinal told the inquiry. He said the offending had largely escaped the view of Church officials who didn’t know what a “mess” they were presiding over. Cardinal Read more
A retired Australian bishop has told a Victorian parliamentary inquiry that his predecessor “effectively facilitated” child sexual abuse by leaving known paedophiles in ministry and this was “absolutely” unChristlike. Bishop Peter Connors said his predecessor in Ballarat diocese, Bishop Ronald Mulkearns, made “terrible errors” and showed “great naivety” in moving paedophiles Gerald Ridsdale and Paul Read more
A call by the Catholic Church in Victoria for mandatory reporting by clergy who become aware of child abuse has coincided with a report that the Church’s Australian treatment clinic for priests shielded known paedophiles from police scrutiny. According to whistleblowers closely involved with the now-defunct Encompass Australasia clinic — which some New Zealand priests Read more
A lawyer representing 45 victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy is calling for a Royal Commission following a police report linking dozens of suicides to sexual abuse by clergy. 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 Read more