Archbishop Admits : “we Have Failed Terribly”

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Perth
April 24, 2014

http://www.perthcatholic.org.au/_uploads/fcknw/files/140424%20Archdiocese%20of%20Perth%20-%20Archbishop%20-%20We%20have%20failed%20terribly.pdf

[full text]

As members of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse arrive in Western Australia , Archbishop Timothy Costelloe of the Archdiocese of Perth has written to the entire Catholic community.

In his letter, the Archbishop admits to the past failures of Church leadership and assures Catholics and society at large of his determination to make church communities places of safety for all, especially minors.

The Archbishop’s letter begins by praising the “great courage and resilience” of survivors who will share their stories with the Royal Commission, stressing that “they deserve our admiration, our gratitude and our support”.

He states that the Church “recognises their suffering and genuinely apologises for the terrible things they have endured”.

The Archbishop expresses his “full support for the work of the Commission”, seeing this as “an opportunity for people to finally have their voices heard” especially as “the curse of sexual abuse has infected the Catholic Church right around the country” becoming “a universal problem for the Church”.

His letter goes on to state that “as a Church we have failed terribly” confessing that “Church leaders have at times failed to respond adequately… moving abusers from one place to another” thereby “putting other young people at risk”. Regarding the Church’s protocols, “mistakes have been made,” he says, “processes have not always been followed, and not everyone has been able to find the healing” they sought after.

The Archbishop points out that the Church’s first response “must be one of absolute support for those who have experienced this abuse” and that “every avenue [be explored] to make sure that the scourge of sexual abuse is eradicated from our Catholic community”.