They Survived Clergy Abuse but Are Still Paying a Price

By Jane Lee
The Age
September 10, 2012

http://www.theage.com.au/national/they-survived-clergy-abuse-but-are-still-paying-a-price-20120910-25oi1.html

[with video]

THEY call themselves the Survivors.

The men, aged in their 40s and 50s, meet about once a month to support each other in a struggle against something they rarely discuss.

All have similar tales of a cycle of physical violence and sexual abuse suffered at the hands of clergy in Catholic schools in Ballarat in the 1970s.

(Front, left to right) Paul Tatchell and Paul Lyons, (back, from left) Andrew Collins, Peter Blenkiron and Stephen Woods. Insets: As children in Ballarat, Peter Blenkiron (top) and Paul Lyons Photo: Joe Armao

Most of the group's members were students of St Patrick's College or St Alipius Christian Brothers Primary School or both, while Robert Best, Stephen Francis Farrell, Edward Dowlan and Gerald Ridsdale, all later convicted paedophiles, were employed there.

Some have received compensation for their ordeal, but many more are still in mediation with the Catholic Church, in a process they say has prolonged their trauma.

At the time of writing, about 30 victims, and rising, were preparing a joint submission to the Victorian Parliament's inquiry into the handling of sexual abuse by religious and other organisations. While most of the men cannot bring themselves to discuss the abuse publicly, they are all working with an appointed assistant, lawyer Judy Courtin, to persuade the government to build a support system funded by the Holy See that provides practical and financial assistance to victims - and to launch a royal commission.

The inquiry, now before the Family and Community Development Committee, was called in April after a police report revealed at least 40 suicides were linked to sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy.

The inquiry's terms of reference cover criminal abuse, including unlawful physical assaults, sexual abuse offences, criminal neglect and the facilitating of such offences.

In the 1970s, daily beatings were a normal part of life in Catholic schools in Ballarat, Stephen Woods, 51, said. Mr Woods was sexually assaulted by Christian Brother Robert Best, now a convicted paedophile, when he was an 11-year-old student at St Alipius Christian Brothers Primary School.

He said that parents were told their children were being disciplined at school.

''What they didn't tell the parents was they were beating the shit out of us. I remember Best coming up behind me and slamming me into the brick wall.

''But that was his pretext for dragging me into his office and molesting me. And while he was molesting me he'd say, 'It is your fault, this is what you deserve, you are bad, you are evil'.

''So the physical beatings went along with the emotional beatings and sexual trauma.''

Peter Blenkiron, 50, who was sexually abused when he was 11 at St Patrick's College, agreed, saying Brother Edward Dowlan would belt him until he cried.

''And then he'd comfort me and then the sexual abuse would start. The physical and sexual abuse definitely tied in.

''If there was no sexual abuse after, you had a good day. If you just got beaten up, belted and punished, that was OK.''

He counted out the different forms of abuse on his fingers: "For me it was [being] belted, comforted then abused."

While not all physical assaults were linked with sexual abuse, they were severe, and in some cases could have contributed to long-term health consequences.

Paul Lyons, 52, suffers chronic pain in his legs and back. He sleeps sitting up because it hurts to lie down for long periods. At one point he was prescribed 50 different daily painkillers, since reduced. While a student at St Alipius he said his life was threatened in two different churches if he told anyone about the abuse.

''You're so tiny, you can't fight back,'' he said.

''I'm so surprised that the beatings I got didn't make me a paraplegic.''

Another man, who preferred not to be identified, said he had had a sore back since he was eight years old and has not been able to bend down to tie his shoelaces since then.

''I got bashed up, kicked, thrown through doors, picked up by the ears, head [pushed] down toilets, pushed through doors, and I couldn't put on my own shoes and socks when I was a kid. I've had a sore back for as long as I can remember.''

As many as two-thirds of the group are battling suicidal thoughts on a daily basis, Mr Blenkiron said. He has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

''Words are not going to keep people alive,'' he said. ''We need a practical support network that doesn't make people feel like they're going cap in hand for the dole. We need to be supported in a way that we don't have to go begging for help.''

Another member of the group, Andrew Collins, 43, who also suffers some components of post-traumatic stress disorder, once ran his own transport company. He was heavily involved in the Liberal Party and was asked to stand as a candidate in state elections.

In 2006 he suffered a mental breakdown. He considers himself one of the ''luckier ones'' because he was eligible for WorkCover and income insurance, and given a 30 per cent permanent incapacity certificate, while many other members relied on the disability pension.

''[Family members] have said to me, 'you're a grown man, get over it!' It's not the grown man who deals with it. It's that 14-year-old boy,'' Mr Collins said. ''When I first went and filed the police report I just felt like I was that 14-year-old boy again. I wasn't an adult at all.''

Submissions to the inquiry close on September 21.

For help or information call Lifeline on 13 11 14, MensLine Australia on 1300 78 99 78 or Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467.