Woman Attempted Suicide in Office of Archbishop

By Stuart Rintoul
The Australian
November 27, 2012

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/woman-attempted-suicide-in-office-of-archbishop/story-fngburq5-1226524525863

A VICTIM of church abuse attempted to kill herself in the office of the Melbourne Catholic Archbishop to draw attention to the failures of the church, the Victorian parliament's abuse inquiry has heard.

Nicky Davis of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests told the inquiry the woman took an overdose in Denis Hart's office and was rushed to a private room at St Vincent's hospital in Melbourne.

Last night, the woman told The Australian she had taken an overdose of valium at James Goold House, one of the church's main offices in Melbourne, in about 2004 while attempting to discuss her case and the broader issue of pedophile priests with Archbishop Hart. She said she had attempted suicide on church premises three times and identified herself as the subject of an intervention order taken out by Archbishop Hart.

The Melbourne Magistrates Court heard in 2004 that Archbishop Hart told a woman who had been sexually abused by priest Barry Whelan to "go to hell, bitch", after she knocked on his door at 1.20am. When the court documents became public in 2009, Archbishop Hart said he "did not recall" the comments, which magistrate Anne Goldsborough described as "appalling". In a statement last night, the church said the suicide attempt "did not involve Archbishop Hart".