Broken Rites has helped a "Four Corners" TV program re church-abuse, Broken Rites (August 10, 2014)

Broken Rites has helped a "Four Corners" TV program re church-abuse

Broken Rites
August 10, 2014

http://brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/302

Broken Rites has helped the Australian Broadcasting Corporation with research for a Four Corners television program, being broadcast on Monday 11 August 2014. The program is about how the Catholic Church in Australia tries to cover up its child-sex abuse - and how the church avoids paying full compensation to victims. The ABC producers obtained information from Broken Rites research. Here are the links to some of the relevant Broken Rites articles which helped Four Corners.

The Four Corners program includes case studies of some of the church's paedophile priests. For example (you can click on any of the following names):

Fr Aidan Duggan: Cardinal George Pell instructed the church's lawyers to crush a former altar boy (John Ellis) who had been one of Duggan's victims and who was seeking compensation.. The church is still using this legal tactic (known in legal circles as "the Ellis defence") to avoid paying full compensation to other victims.
Fr Kevin O'Donnell: George Pell praised Father O'Donnell but Broken Rites supported the victims.
Fr Peter Searson: The church inflicted this "chaplain" on disadvantaged victims.
Fr Dominic Phillips:This priest "befriended" young schoolgirls.

Four Corners also gives an example of one notorious Melbourne parish - Doveton. This low socio-economic area is on Melbourne's south-eastern outskirts, near Dandenong. The Melbourne Archdiocese leadership sent a succession of sexually-abusive priests to this parish. For example (you can click on any of the following names).

Fr Tom O'Keeffe. The church finally says 'Sorry' to O'Keefe's victims.
Fr Bill Baker. An archbishop covered up Baker's crimes.
Fr Vic Rubeo . The church harboured this offender for three decades.
Fr Peter Searson. He was one of several abusive priests who were dumped on this parish.

Broken Rites is proud to have helped Four Corners with our research.

This episode of Four Corners (entitled "In the Name of the Law") goes to air on Monday 11th August at 8.30pm on ABC. It is replayed on Tuesday 12th August at 11.00am and 11.35pm. It can also be seen on the ABC News 24 channel on Saturday at 8.00pm, or on ABC iview ,or on the internet at: www.abc.net.au/4corners