People Can Decide on Child Abuse Inquiry: Bishop

By Anthea Kissell
ABC News
November 14, 2012

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-14/bishop-hurley-on-child-abuse-and-confession/4371588

[with video]

The Catholic Bishop of the Northern Territory says the people of the Tiwi Islands should decide if a Royal Commission is to revisit an alleged child sexual abuse case.

Brother John Hallett was accused of systematically abusing boys at the Francis Xavier Boys School at Nguiu from the mid-1980s to 2003.

He was found guilty of a number of offences by a Darwin jury but his convictions were later quashed on appeal.

At least forty children had claimed they were sexually abused by Brother Hallett.

Territory police in 1997 said that language problems had made gathering evidence difficult during their initial investigation.

Bishop Eugene Hurley says he would welcome a commission investigating the matter if the Tiwi people supported that.

"That is entirely up to those people," he said.

"Some may want that to happen and I would certainly support it if they do that, if it was up to me," he said.

"But I'd want to listen really carefully to what they want and not just go barging into their lives on the grounds that we think it is a good thing."

Bishop Hurley says removing the sanctity of the confessional would deter potential child abusers from seeking help.

Federal Opposition frontbencher Christopher Pyne says priests have a responsibility to report crimes to police, even if it means breaking church rules.

Bishop Hurley says a person who confesses child abuse to a priest would be advised to go to the police and be given counselling.

He says priests, like lawyers, should uphold their responsibilities.

"It is something I would die for," he said.

"As a priest you are required never to reveal what you have heard in confession.

"People making these sorts of glib statements don't understand."