BishopAccountability.org
	Report Reveals Widespread Abuse Within Catholic Church By Samela Harris Adelaide Now May 22, 2009 http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25518257-2682,00.html A MYSTERY which ranks up there with the existence of God is that of why and how the Catholic Church has ended up as an institution notorious for the abuse of young people entrusted to its care. The Child Abuse Commission this week has released a report finding that behavioural aberrations of priests, nuns and lay people in the Catholic schools and care homes have been "endemic'. The report encompassed some 35,000 victims over 60 years of life within Irish Church-run institutions. It found them heavy with sexual abuse of boys and humiliation of girls beatings, scaldings, rape and emotional abuse. Some of the culprits in this sad piece of Irish Catholic history now live in Australia. Some of the offending priests were recorded as having gone from one institution to another repeating their offences wherever they went. Moving into schools, education departments rarely were informed of the history and offenders could simply take up work as teachers and keep offending. Their religious raiments and the taking of vows tended to give an impression of integrity. IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH DOING ENOUGH TO DELIVER JUSTICE TO VICTIMS? Have your say in the comment box below. "When confronted with evidence of sexual abuse, the response of the religious authorities was to transfer the offender to another location where, in many instances, he was free to abuse again," said the report. "The safety of children in general was not a consideration," it added. To the immense disdain and disappointment of the victims, the Irish Catholic Church's response to the litany of horrors in the 3500-page, five-volume report, does not include prosecution. Instead, head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, has simply said that he is "profoundly sorry". While the Irish phenomenon has the world reeling in shock and sadness, it is not surprising to many, particularly the Catholics of Boston, US, where the mighty Cardinal Bernard Law, the most influential bishop in the US, was undone for his years of trying to prevent such scandals from being aired and harming the church. The Archdiocese of Boston ended up selling properties and fund-raising desperately to pay the damages claimed by its myriad victims of priestly sexual abuse. In Australia an organisation called Broken Rites has been devoted to fighting church sexual abuse since 1992. Broken Rites' research showed an uncanny parallel with the latest report from Ireland. It found that: "too often, sexually-abusive personnel survived in the church while their colleagues and superiors looked the other way. The apathy or negligence of these colleagues and superiors encouraged the offenders to continue offending. The offenders hoped that their religious status would protect them from exposure". Last year when Pope Benedict visited Australia, victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and brothers in Australia called upon him to apologise, he did so, saying "those responsible for these evils must be brought to justice." Victims nonetheless have been angry that perpetrators have been protected and even given anonymity. John Walsh, a victim and spokesman for Irish Survivors of Child Abuse, said that the lack of prosecutions of the culprits would have a devastating effect on the victims. "I would never have opened my wounds if I'd known this was going to be the end result," Mr Walsh said. Broken Rites spokesman Dr Wayne Chamley suggested to the ABC radio yesterday that a Royal Commission would bring "the real figures" to light. The Australian Christian Lobby Group disagreed. Its managing director Jim Wallace was quoted as saying that a Royal Commission would be an over-reaction since Australian churches had looked "diligently" at the issue of sexual abuse and he hoped that the long-awaited report "has satisfied the need to get rid of this scourge from religious institutions and schools." Foundation professor of Psychiatry at Flinders Medical Centre and Flinders University, Professor Ross Kalucy added that there had yet to be a clear analysis of why there was such a trend for abuse of those in the care of Catholic Institutions. "There may be an element of character in those who have heightened sense of sin and who seek protection in such institutions", he said. "Then again, one could not generalise. What is known is that that the phenomenon of abuse in these contexts of religious care is not new. It is hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. What is new is people's willingness to challenge them and a media which will support this."
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