Dealing with Pain Caused by Child-sex Abuse Is Catholic Church's Greatest Crisis, Say Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson

Daily Telegraph
December 17, 2012

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/dealing-with-pain-caused-by-child-sex-abuse-is-catholic-churchs-greatest-crisis-say-archbishop-of-adelaide-philip-wilson/story-fndo2izk-1226538659270

[the letter]

Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson says the church is facing its greatest crisis as it grapples with the fallout of child-sex abuse. Source: AdelaideNow

THE Catholic Church faces its greatest crisis of all time as it grapples with the reality of the pain caused by child sex abuse, Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson says.

In a letter to the state's Catholics responding to Prime Minister Julia Gillard's announcement of a Royal Commission into child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, Archbishop Wilson expressed his "deepest sorrow" to victims of clerical child sex abuse.

"The reality of child abuse is by far the greatest crisis we have faced as a church in this country," he said.

"As people of God, we can only feel deep shame over the terrible betrayal of trust and the suffering inflicted on the abused and their families by those members of the church who engaged in this most serious crime."

Archbishop Wilson, who declined to speak to adelaidenow, said in the letter the Archdiocese of Adelaide has been at the forefront of child protection in recent years and had introduced many initiatives that had been held up as best practice.

Those measures, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese said, included extensive use of police checks, compulsory training and education in child protection and a proactive approach to creating child safe environments.

"The full details of these initiatives will be provided to the Royal Commission," the spokesperson said.

Archbishop Wilson called the Royal Commission a very important development in Australian society as a whole because it will be the first time when the horrendous issues of abuse will be examined in great detail on a national scale.

"It will enable people affected by child sex abuse to have a voice like they have never had before," he said.

"They will be able to tell of their tragedies and be heard at the highest level - and in doing so it will help institutions, including our church, to learn more about those experiences and, if necessary, better inform us about how we respond to these very difficult and complex issues.

"Our priority in the past decade has been to respond compassionately to those affected by child sex abuse and to put preventative measures in place.

"Having said that, I acknowledge again that we need to and must do more."