St Mary's Cleric Wants Overhaul of Response to Sexual Abuse

By Danny Lannen
Geelong Advertiser
February 11, 2013

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2013/02/11/358909_news.html

Fr Kevin Dillon

GEELONG Catholic priest Fr Kevin Dillon will tell a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into institutional abuse that an existing response system for victims ignores rules of compassion and justice and it is beyond repair.

The St Mary's parish priest will on Friday become the first cleric to present to the state inquiry, during the second of two sittings in Geelong.

Fr Dillon said yesterday he would call for victims to have a greater voice in how a response system might help them rebuild their lives.

He regularly counsels about 40 people who have suffered abuse from within the Catholic church.

"One fellow said to me, 'This is not about money'," Fr Dillon said. "'I want my life back'.

"So you say to them, 'What do we have to do to help you get your life back'.

"That's going to be a different answer from different people, but you've got to come from the vantage point of saying we want to do what you want.

"That has not been the approach to date and the fact that people were unrepresented, they had no advocacy, no appeal, no follow through - every rule of compassion and justice has been ignored in all of these things."

The parliamentary inquiry, which began in October, is investigating handling of sexual abuse by religious and other organisations.

Fr Dillon said he hoped one of its products would be an independent body which would learn from the testimonies of people who have already sought justice.

"The crazy thing is this thing has been going on for years and no one has ever contacted the victims no one has ever said to the victims, 'How did you find the process, what were its strengths and what were its weaknesses?"' he said.

"The actual structures themselves are well past their use-by date, if indeed they ever had one, and it's not a matter of fixing a system because I think people have just lost confidence in the system totally. It's a matter of getting a new system together and the first people you would look to would be the victims themselves."

He said processes for helping Vietnam veterans deal with post-traumatic stress disorder set a good example.

"It is so far in front of the church's system because it does have advocacy, it does have about five levels of appeal or review," he said.

"With this, it's take it, or leave it and get out.

"I'll say those things if I have to on Friday, and it probably won't go over too well in some quarters but it's the truth."