CATHOLIC Council Set for Abuse Commission

9 News
November 30, 2012

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2012/11/30/11/04/catholic-council-to-work-with-commission

A council of religious and lay people being set up to work with the royal commission into child sex abuse will help the Catholic Church "face the truth", Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart says.

The Catholic Bishops Conference on Friday announced it had established a group of representatives from the conference and religious orders to establish and oversee the new 10-member council.

In a statement, the conference said the royal commission's inquiry would be "painful and difficult" for the church, but that was nothing compared to the hurt of those who had suffered sexual abuse.

"Once again, we renew our heartfelt apology to those whose lives have been so grievously harmed by the evil perpetrated upon them by some priests, religious and church personnel."

Archbishop Hart, who is conference president, said the new council would help the church engage closely with the commission and the community.

Expert lay people, including those with expertise in the care of sex abuse victims, would be on the council, he told AAP.

"We need broad-based expertise so that the church together can face the truth, can provide a better response to the care of victims and also make Australia a safer place for our children."

Archbishop Hart said the church had 30 bishops in their dioceses and 129 different religious orders, so a unified council was considered best to liaise with the royal commission.

It was still important for the royal commission to be able to approach individual church officials and members, the archbishop said.

He has already come out in support of mandatory reporting of child sex abuse for priests in line with doctors, nurses and social workers.

There have been calls for the sanctity of the confessional to be reviewed in relation to child sex abuse.

But Archbishop Hart said it was unlikely child sex offenders within the church would use the confessional.

"Leaving things as they are has very positive value and it is part of the religious freedom that we enjoy under the constitution," he said.

Chris MacIsaac from Broken Rites Australia, a victim support group, said the church's proposed committee was an attempt to shield church leaders from the scrutiny of the royal commission.

"The royal commission must be able to question any bishop or church leader individually," he said in a statement.

"The proposed committee members will not know how each church leader concealed a crime from the police, or how an offender was transferred to new locations and new victims."