'Independent' Church Body for Abuse Inquiry Controlled by Bishops

By Stephen Crittenden
The Guardian UNITED KINGDOM
August 28, 2013

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/28/independent-church-body-abuse-inquiry

The archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson – a surprising presence in the supervisory group.

A body set up by the Catholic church in Australia to oversee its dealings with the royal commission into child sexual abuse is not the predominantly lay-run organisation it has been represented as, according to documents obtained by Guardian Australia.

The Truth, Justice and Healing Council was established last January by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Australia to prepare documents and legal submissions for the royal commission and review the church’s existing abuse protocols. It is chaired by retired NSW supreme court judge Barry O’Keefe, with former general secretary of the Australian Medical Association Francis Sullivan as its chief executive and media face.

Although two of its 13 members are bishops – Mark Coleridge, the archbishop of Brisbane; and William Wright, the bishop of Maitland-Newcastle – the TJH Council has been promoted from the outset as a lay-dominated organisation operating at arm’s length from the hierarchy, and its own press releases describe it as an “independent advisory group”.

In fact, the council is tightly controlled by a separate 11-member “supervisory group” made up of bishops and heads of religious orders. The existence of this second body is referred to in the TJH Council’s terms of reference, but its size and membership have never been made public.

Now, documents obtained by Guardian Australia reveal this supervisory group is chaired by the archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart, who is also chairman of the bishops' conference. Other members include the archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell; Coleridge; the archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson; the archbishop of Perth, Timothy Costelloe; bishop Eugene Hurley of Darwin; bishop Peter Ingham of Wollongong; and bishop Christopher Prowse of Sale. Sister Anne Derwin RSJ, Sister Annette Cunliffe RSC, and Father Tony Banks OSA represent the religious orders.

O’Keefe and Sullivan are described as “attendees” at supervisory group meetings but do not have voting rights.

The TJH Council’s terms of reference indicate that it operates subject to directions from the supervisory group and is required to report regularly on all its activities. Any formal submissions it makes to the royal commission have to be referred to the supervisory group for prior approval.

The council is also required to submit any recommendations it may wish to make to the royal commission in relation to issues such as working-with-children checks, reporting to police, vicarious liability of bishops and other church leaders, extending the statute of limitations, and introduction of criminal offences linked to the conduct of church leaders.

The presence of Wilson in the supervisory group is particularly surprising given he has been referred to in a police brief of evidence prepared by police Strike Force Lantle, currently before the NSW department of public prosecutions.

Strike Force Lantle was established following media pressure in 2010 to investigate allegations that senior Catholic officials covered up the crimes of a priest of the Maitland-Newcastle diocese, Father Denis McAlinden, who died in 2005.

A serial paedophile, McAlinden, an Irishman, arrived in Australia in 1949 and sexually assaulted mainly girls aged four to 12 over the next four decades.

Wilson, who is a former vicar general of the Maitland-Newcastle diocese, refused to make a statement to Strike Force Lantle.

But he was recently subpoenaed to appear before the NSW special inquiry chaired by NSW deputy senior crown prosecutor Margaret Cunneen SC, and gave evidence in camera.

Commissioner Cunneen has explained that she has the power to hear evidence in camera in order not to prejudice any potential future criminal trial.

Last week the NSW premier, Barry O’Farrell, announced he was extending the reporting date for the Cunneen inquiry by an extra five months. Cunneen now has to report by the end of February 2014.

The national royal commission commences public hearings on 16 September.