Priests Call for Abuse Inquiry

By Barney Zwartz
The Age
March 29, 2012

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/priests-call-for-abuse-inquiry-20120328-1vytj.html


SENIOR Melbourne Catholic clergy, including the archbishop's adviser on sexual abuse issues, have broken ranks by backing a call for an independent inquiry into the handling of abuse complaints.

The adviser, Father Tony Kerin, said yesterday that he had told Archbishop Denis Hart that an independent review would clear the air and should be held, although the cost to the church would be high.

"This is really a crunch issue for the church. If we are to be a church, we need to minister to the victims and do it much better," he said.

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More than 300 sexual abuse victims have received compensation from the Catholic Church in Melbourne. More than 60 Melbourne Catholic clergy and members of religious orders have been convicted of sexual abuse since 1993.

The abuse issue is intensifying worldwide. It started in Boston in the US, spread to Ireland and is now surfacing in Europe and South America. A public inquiry in Ireland, long opposed by the bishops, uncovered decades of institutional abuse but allowed a fresh start, Irish Catholics say.

In February, Justice Phillip Cummins recommended to the Victorian Parliament that there should be a formal investigation, including powers to compel evidence.

State Attorney-General Robert Clark has come under intense pressure to hold an inquiry. He has met many delegations from victims and their supporters. The government repeated yesterday that it was considering an inquiry.

According to Geelong priest Kevin Dillon, there is a groundswell of support among Melbourne's clergy for an independent inquiry. He said the abuse crisis was damaging the church and clergy morale.

"I suspect for the majority of priests it's all so ugly we just wish it wasn't there," he said.

Father Dillon said many Melbourne priests believed a government-led inquiry would provide the best possible look at

the church's Melbourne Response, the protocol for dealing with complaints of clergy abuse.

Several priests, including Father Kerin, who is the Episcopal Vicar for Justice and Peace, Father Dillon and Victorian of the Year Father Bob Maguire, have been meeting victims regularly through victims' advocacy group In Good Faith.

They planned to extend the exchange by inviting Melbourne priests to a meeting next month to hear victims' accounts and be briefed on the need for an inquiry, said In Good Faith director Helen Last.

Priests were "anxious, confused and disempowered" by the crisis, she said.

Father Kerin said he attended the meetings so he could hear the victims and appreciate the issue better in assisting Archbishop Hart.

He said an independent inquiry would clear the air but would come at a heavy cost to the church in terms of time, energy, and diverted attention.

Father Kerin said he thought an inquiry would uncover two or three problems from the past but would also track how the church had improved its efforts over time.

"My main concern as vicar for justice is to make sure that things don't happen now or in the future," he said.

Father Dillon said there had been many calls for the church itself to review the Melbourne Response, but such a review could not be undertaken by the people who did the job.

"Often official statements come out saying it's working well, and it may be for many. But we remain in the dark," he said.

Bryan Keon-Cohen, QC, president of Coin (Commission of Inquiry Now), said yesterday he had had a "sometimes aggressive" meeting with Melbourne Vicar-General Greg Bennet, archdiocese business manager Francis Moore and lawyer Richard Leder on Tuesday. Mr Keon-Cohen said Coin wanted a co-operative approach to the Attorney-General but the idea had been rejected.