New Archbishop Calls for Greater Support for Victims of Child Sex Abuse
By Adrienne Francis
The new Canberra and Goulburn Archbishop says the Catholic Church could do more to support victims of child sexual abuse. Former Victorian bishop Christopher Prowse was installed as the new Catholic Archbishop during a solemn Mass at St Christopher's Cathedral in Forrest. In delivering the homily, Archbishop Prowse mentioned the Royal Commission and parliamentary inquiries into child sexual abuse, telling the packed congregation he truly felt for its victims. "We can always do a lot more," Archbishop Prowse said. "First of all, we have got to listen to their stories. I think we need to really improve on that. "The victims, these courageous and brave people, coming out to share their horrendous stories and we want to stand alongside them and be supportive of them in these fragile times." Diverse Archdiocese Archbishop Prowse is the seventh Archbishop of the Canberra and Goulburn Archdiocese, replacing Archbishop Mark Coleridge who was appointed Archbishop of Brisbane in May 2012. The 150-year-old diocese stretches 88,000 square kilometres from Lake Cargelligo in the north-west, to the New South Wales and Victorian coastal border in the south-east. The Catholic Church says the Archdiose has an estimated Catholic population of about 160,000 people, comprising 22 ACT and 35 NSW parishes. "I think the numbers of bishops will remain constant," Archbishop Prowse said. "There must always be shepherds when there's sheep. "There should be an openness to recruiting priests and seminarians from overseas where there are plentiful [numbers of] priests." Compassion for refugees Archbishop Prowse also called for refugees and migrant families to be treated with greater compassion and hospitality. "Not just in gestures and in a tokenistic way, but real hospitality and a desire to listen to the stories," he said. Archbishop Prowse says he is critical of the demonisation of refugees. He says he is closely watching the Federal Government's handling of the global issue. "When we over politicise any particular human tragedy story and not listen to their stories and it is replaced often by a bureaucratic response, I feel we are not really being truly Australian," Archbishop Prowse said. "Australia is not as under pressure as other parts of the world." Marriage fragility Archbishop Prowse says he does not support same-sex marriage and is more concerned about the fragility of heterosexual marriage and what he describes as traditional heterosexual families. "We are looking at this issue in a very narrow window," he said. "The presenting issue seems to be same-sex marriage, but the real issue is the fragile state of heterosexual traditional families. "The same-sex issue tends to be moving the compassionate glare of Australians to another issue. Although allied, I don't think it is the real issue."
|
.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.