Bishops Strike Conciliatory Note on RC

By Barney Zwartz
The Age
November 30, 2012

http://www.theage.com.au/national/bishops-strike-conciliatory-note-on-rc-20121130-2alx1.html

AUSTRALIA'S Catholic bishops will set up a 10-member committee, including laypeople, to oversee its response to the recently announced Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

Responding to widespread criticism of the defensive attitude of Cardinal George Pell last week, the bishops struck a more conciliatory tone, saying that "painful and difficult as [the commission] might be for the church, it is nothing compared to the hurt of those who have suffered sexual abuse".

The bishops announced on Friday that they had appointed a supervisory group of bishops and members of religious orders to appoint and oversee a new Council for the Royal Commission.

This follows comments on Wednesday by Sister Annette Cunliffe on behalf of Australia's 180 religious orders that that laypeople and non-Catholics needed to be involved to improve transparency and openness and ensure it was not seen as an internal plan or cover-up.

Sister Cunliffe, president of Catholic Religious Australia, criticised Cardinal Pell for speaking to the media without adequate knowledge, and said he was the wrong person to speak for the church.

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference chairman Denis Hart, the Archbishop of Melbourne, released a statement at the end of the bishops twice-yearly conference in Sydney, but did not name any members of the supervisory group or the council.

The bishops welcomed the royal commission as an opportunity for victims to get a compassionate hearing, justice and further healing. It would also allow the church's abuse protocols to be "scrutinised with greater objectivity", leading to refinements promoting justice and pastoral care.

"However imperfectly, this work has been going on in the Catholic Church for the last two decades. It will continue," the statement said.

"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."