Victims break down in tears at abuse inquiry

Sky News
May 19, 2015

http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2015/05/19/victims-break-down-in-tears-at-abuse-inquiry.html

The impacts of the gross violations of children by Catholic clergy in Ballarat has been felt throughout the community, the royal commission chair says.

Justice Peter McClellan says a public hearing in Ballarat will hear the personal stories of a number of survivors as well as perpetrators of the abuse.

'That evidence will describe the gross violations of individuals by ordained members of the Catholic Church,' Justice McClellan said on Tuesday.

Justice McClellan was told of the significant scale of the abuse in the Ballarat region during private sessions in the Victorian regional city.

He said the great suffering of many people extended beyond individual survivors to their families and friends.

'The impacts have been felt throughout the community,' he said.

He said the evidence from perpetrators would help with an understanding of why ordained members of the Catholic Church became abusers and how the church responded to abuse allegations.

'It will be particularly important in helping the community to learn of the knowledge that people in authority in the church had of the abuse and will assist us to assess the response of those in charge.'

He said the evidence of perpetrators, including convicted priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale, may be confronting for some people.

'However without the evidence of perpetrators, the true story of the response of the church in Ballarat may never be completely revealed,' he said.