Church 'Better Late Than Never': Hart

Courier Mail
May 20, 2013

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/breaking-news/church-better-late-than-never-hart/story-e6freono-1226647177963

MELBOURNE Archbishop Denis Hart says the Catholic Church taking 18 years to petition for a pedophile priest to be defrocked is "better late than never".

Father Desmond Gannon was convicted and jailed for sexual offences in 2009 but remains an ordained priest.

A Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child sex abuse has heard he offended from 1957 to 1979 and was identified to then-Melbourne archbishop George Pell in 1998 as "high risk".

Yet it wasn't until 2011 that the Catholic Church in Victoria petitioned Rome for Fr Gannon to be laicised.

Asked at the inquiry on Monday why it had taken so long, current Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart replied "better late than never".

"It's not a nice story, I agree with you, and his activities have been most offensive," Archbishop Hart said.

He blamed Fr Gannon's incarceration and church law for the delay.

"There would have been very few who would have been laicised forcibly until the late 2000s, until after 2002," Archbishop Hart said.

"I would say we did what we could."

He said Rome required a very high standard of proof when it came to defrocking priests.

"They require absolute certitude as to what took place," he said.

When pressed on the fact Fr Gannon had been "convicted, tried and sentenced" Archbishop Hart said: "I'm not proud of that but at least we're addressing it," drawing groans from the public gallery.

Archbishop Hart said he was initially told by the Holy See to impose a penal precept, due to Gannon's extreme age.

He said he wrote again to Rome, insisting Gannon be laicised.

Archbishop Hart wrote that he felt if Fr Gannon wasn't laicised it would reflect poorly on the church.

"I'm concerned that the good name of the church ... could be damaged unless reverend Desmond Gannon is laicised."