Celibacy a Probable Cause of 'Tsunami of Sexual Abuse' That Hit Church Marist Brother Says

By Matthew Benns
The Telegraph
December 17, 2013

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/celibacy-a-probable-cause-of-tsunami-of-sexual-abuse-that-hit-church-marist-brother-says/story-fni0cx12-1226785002132

Brother Michael Hill, left, said the vow of chastity may be a cause of abuse in the Catholic Church.

THE vow of chastity imposed on young priests is the probable cause of the "tsunami of sexual abuse" to hit the Catholic Church.

Michael Hill, the former head of the Marist Brothers in Australia, told the Royal Commission into childhood sexual abuse that his training for a life of celibacy consisted of one word: "Don't".

Justice Peter McClellan asked: "Do you look upon the vow of chastity imposed upon teenage boys, soon to become men, as one of the elements that may be responsible for the tsunami that came?"

Brother Hill, a trained psychologist, told him: "In some cases I agree that that's a probable cause, yes."

He said the lack of training on the vow of celibacy when he became a Marist brother in the 1960s as an 18-year-old was "intolerable" and would be "totally unacceptable" today.

Brother Hill, who trained young Marist brothers in Rome for two years, said young men joining the church were told more about the vow of celibacy today.

"Does talking about human sexual development assist an 18-year-old or a young man growing up to come to terms with the vow of chastity?" asked Justice McClellan.

Brother Hill was also asked about his efforts to stop a public apology to a childhood victim of sexual abuse in order to protect the reputation of the Catholic Church.

The victim requested the apology to help heal a rift in his family that came after he reported abuser Brother Raymond Foster to the police.

Brother Hill confirmed that he had wanted to keep the matter out of the public eye.

Justice Peter McClellan said: "It might be suggested that the purpose was to protect the reputation of the Catholic body itself."

"That was wrong, wasn't it?"

Brother Hill accepted that it was wrong but still felt that he was right not to have told the victim about a suicide note the Brother Foster left absolving the victim of any responsibility for his death.

Brother Alexis Turton, former director for Marist Brothers Professional Standards, had received a number of complaints about Foster dating back to the 1950s. At the time of the complaints in the early 1990s, Foster was teaching at St Joseph's College in Hunter's Hill, and was allowed to continue working.

Senior Counsel assisting the commission, Angus Stewart, said: "That's astonishing Brother Turton that someone could be left continuing to teach in that environment with no further investigation on your part and not withdrawing from teaching."

"I assume that I would have got an assurance from him that what was referred to 40 years ago was not an issue now," said Brother Turton.

He said the response at the time depended on the "severity" of the abuse which was measured on a range from inappropriate to sexual. That response, he conceded, was "inadequate".