In a rare statement released on Saturday night, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference said a Vos Estis Lux Mundi investigation was underway.

"The Holy See has initiated a canonical investigation into former Broome Bishop Christopher Saunders, with Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane appointed to oversee the investigation," the statement said.

It is believed to be the first time a Vos Estis Lux Mundi inquiry has been conducted in Australia.

The accountability protocol was introduced by Pope Francis in 2019 and guides the response to allegations made against senior clerics such as bishops.

Bishop Saunders stood aside as Bishop of Broome in March 2020 after media reports that Western Australia Police had begun investigating allegations of sexual misconduct.

At the conclusion of its investigation, Western Australia Police confirmed that no charges would be brought against Bishop Saunders.

Saunders has always strongly denied the allegations. However, he tendered his resignation to Pope Francis, which was accepted in August 2021.

This weekend, a letter being read at Masses in the Diocese of Broome says the Church investigation "could not happen" until the police inquiries ended. The letter is signed by Apostolic Administrator Bishop Michael Morrisey and Archbishop Coleridge,

"The investigation is now underway," the letter states. But it indicates it is not known how long the investigation will take.

However, the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith "has granted an extension beyond the normal three months for such an investigation", the letter explains.

Archbishop Coleridge has appointed a group of qualified persons to conduct the investigation.

"Their job will be to gather, as best they can, all relevant information to pursue truth and justice for everyone involved," Coleridge stated.

The archbishop also issued a decree stipulating that Bishop Saunders is to reside outside the Diocese of Broome "for the duration of the investigation".

Sources

ABC

The Catholic Leader

CathNews New Zealand

In its report on the Children and Community Services Amendment Bill 2019, the Council's legislation committee says:

"Ministers of religion be excused from criminal responsibility [of mandatory reporting] only when the grounds of their belief is based solely on information disclosed during religious confession."

The amendment bill currently says priests must break the confessional seal to report known or suspected child sex abuse.

The committee says whether preserving the confessional seal is appropriate needs further consultation.

It suggests the Council "consult with ministers of religion on non-statutory provisions that would facilitate the effective use of information received during religious confession."

The bill aims to implement some of the recommendations the Royal Commission into Child Sex Abuse made in 2017.

Of the over 600 public submissions about the bill, 90 percent were opposed to breaking the confessional seal. Many were from Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

Numerous priests noted the law would be unenforceable, as confessions are usually anonymous.

Archbishop Timothy of Costelloe and Fr. Abram Abdelmalek, an Oriental Orthodox priest, told the committee "they support the introduction of mandatory reporting for ministers of religion, with the exception of the confession."

"The proposed law would render priests who remain faithful to the obligations that they assumed at the time of their ordination… liable to prosecution and conviction as criminals for being faithful to their commitments.

"To make the free practice of an essential part of the Catholic faith illegal seems to me to be something that modern secular societies have always understood to be beyond the limits of their authority."

If a priest heard a confession of child sex abuse they would be responsible to do their best to convince the perpetrator to stop it, Costelloe says.

This may involve persuading the perpetrator to give themselves in to the authorities - and accompanying them to help them do so.

"It is very clear that the priest has a fundamental responsibility to do everything he can without breaking the seal of the confession..."

Asked if Catholic priests would comply with a law requiring the violation of the sacramental seal, Costelloe told the committee:

"Every priest knows what his obligations are, and he knows what the penalties are of not being faithful to those obligations, and he also knows the basis of those obligations, and the basis of the obligations are divine law."

He won't be asking priests to break divine law.

The "well-intentioned" law could make matters worse for victims, Costelloe said.

This is because there is "no chance" a perpetrator could be convinced to do something about it. Nor will victims disclose abuse in the confessional as it wouldn't be confidential.

Several Australian states and territories have adopted laws forcing priests to violate the confessional seal. New South Wales has upheld the seal.

The Vatican has reiterated the seal is inviolable and absolution cannot be conditioned on future actions in the external forum.

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Virtue Online

The figure was revealed at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse at hearings in Perth on May 6.

The payments by the order and Catholic Church insurance were made to 531 people, usually former child migrants brought to Australia from the United Kingdom and Malta, the Daily Telegraph reported.

A Christian Brothers' historian has identified 70 brothers around Australia who had had complaints made against them.

This mainly involved sexual offences against boys between 1919 and 1969.

There were 18 brothers who were repeat offenders.

But from 1945, not one brother was expelled from the order, the Royal Commission was told.

According to an ABC report, the Christian Brothers who ran children's homes in Western Australia in 1940s to 1960s did not consider the abuse of students a crime.

Br Anthony Shanahan, a former province leader of the Christian Brothers in WA, told the hearing the mindset at the time meant abuse was thought of mainly as a moral fault or failing.

"I think they saw it as something that was abhorrent, harmful - although I don't think they understood it as harmful in the way we would now, in terms of consequences for the victim . . ." he said.

The chair of the commission, Justice Peter McClellan, described this attitude as "somewhat extraordinary".

Br Shanahan said brothers who had been accused of abusing students at boarding houses were often sent to day schools.

When asked by Justice McClellan whether it was wise for brothers who abused children to be moved to another facility where children were present, Br Shanahan answered "no".

Br Shanahan told the hearing that between 1947 and 1968 there were no written policies for the order relating to child protection, the handling of abuse complaints or the disciplining of alleged offenders.

He said a complaints process was developed in the 1990s as the order became aware of allegations.

Sources

• Daily Telegraph
• ABC
• Image: Yahoo News Australia