Church took 20 years to defrock paedophile priest, inquiry hears

By Cheryl Hall
ABC News
August 25, 2014

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-25/church-took-20-years-to-defrock-paedophile-priest-inquiry-hears/5695346

Denis Hart told the child sex abuse inquiry that prior to 2001 it was very difficult to get a paedophile priest defrocked.

It took more than 20 years and three requests to Rome to defrock a priest convicted of child sexual abuse, the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart has told an inquiry.

Archbishop Hart told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that Father Michael Glennon was first convicted and jailed in 1978 but it was not until 1998 that he was laicised.

He was convicted five times on multiple charges and died in jail in January this year.

Archbishop Hart, who was vicar general of the Melbourne diocese before being appointed archbishop in 2001, replacing George Pell, told the hearing it was very difficult before 2001 to get approval from the Vatican to defrock a priest.

"The difficulty would be a serious concentration on procedure," he said.

"If every I wasn't dotted and every T crossed in the way that they wanted, then there was a leaning in favour of a priest who might have been accused of something."

He said confirmation by two witnesses was neccessary.

The inquiry's Justice Peter McClellan asked the Archbishop: "You actually don't know what the decision-making process has been. Is that right?"

Archbishop Hart replied: "Yes, your honour."

Justice McClellan told the hearing he had recently written to the Vatican to seek clarification on its decision-making process but that the request had been refused.

Archbishop Hart defended the process called the Melbourne Response, set up by the church to deal with sexual abuse allegations, and said he had great confidence in its integrity.

He said the church had this week appointed Donnell Ryan QC to review the current cap on compensation of $75,000.

He said a review would look at whether the cap was appropriate and should remain in place, and whether past cases should be reviewed.

The hearing was told the church had paid almost as much to administer the system, as it had paid out in compensation to victims.

Archbishop Hart disagreed with a ruling by the Supreme Court of England that the church was liable for a child entrusted to its care.

He said the relationship between a church and its congregation was different to that of an employer.

"There's considerable freedom and a broader relationship than someone who works in an office," he said.

Families of abuse victims criticised the announcement of a review into the Church's compensation scheme, saying they had lost faith in the church review process.

Anthony Foster's two daughters were abused by a priest in the 1990s and he said he had no faith.

Mr Foster said there should have been more action sooner by the church.

"Who knows how long this is going to take," he said.

"Archbishop Hart should have taken the moral decision today to remove the cap [and] reassess all the existing cases.

"To provide some real relief to all the victims out there that this royal commission has heard from and that this royal commission knows should be treated much better than what they have been."