Catholic Church failing to honour royal commission compassion pledge, alleged sex abuse victim Gina Swannell says

By Lorna Knowles
ABC News
August 2, 2015

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-02/alleged-sex-abuse-victim-sues-catholic-church/6666504

Gina Swannell says she was assaulted by a Catholic priest on nine separate occasions.

Gina Swannell (front, far right) says she had an idyllic childhood until her mother died of cancer.

A woman who alleges she suffered horrific child sexual abuse at the hands of a priest has accused the Catholic Church of failing to honour its pledge to treat victims with more compassion.

Gina Swannell is suing the church for damages in relation to sexual abuse she allegedly suffered when she was six years old at the St Francis Xavier boarding school in Urana, New South Wales.

Ms Swannell said the order of nuns which ran the school, the Presentation Sisters, had offered to mediate but the Church had declined to do so, leaving her to take her claim to the courts.

"People need to know that [what] is happening behind closed doors is not what they are saying to the public," she said.

"They are saying all the right things but they're not doing it. Behind closed doors, they've changed nothing.

"They're doing exactly the same — deny then crucify."

Ms Swannell was one of original campaigners for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and one of the first to give evidence, in private hearings, about being assaulted by Catholic priest Father Charles Holdsworth.

In a widely reported submission to the royal commission, church leaders made a commitment "to recognise and acknowledge the crimes of the past and the devastating harm caused by child sexual abuse".

In a subsequent public statement, the leaders committed to "repairing the past wrongs, listening to and hearing survivors, putting their needs first and doing everything possible to ensure a safer future for children".

Encouraged by this pledge, Ms Swannell sought an apology and compensation. But instead she faces a lengthy court battle.

Her lawyer, Peter Karp, said he was concerned about his client having to give evidence in a courtroom.

"The Presentation Sisters have been willing to sit down and have a mediation and talk about Gina's needs and compensation with her, however the bishop of the Wagga diocese has sent us a two-line letter saying, 'No, we're not interested in mediation'," Mr Karp said.

"To be forced to go to court, to go over all those things again, is just beyond stressful. I'd be concerned for her welfare in doing so."

Ms Swannell came from a happy family, but when her mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and given six months to live, she was sent to St Francis Xavier boarding school in Urana, 350 kilometres west of Canberra.

"I had more in common with Shirley Temple than anybody else," she said.

"I had a great life, I had great parents, great family."

One afternoon during confession at the nearby St Fiacre's Church, Ms Swannell said she was sexually assaulted by Father Holdsworth.

She said she went straight to the head nun at the school to report the abuse.

"She got down on her haunches and she looked me in the eye and she said, 'That man was hand-picked by God and you, Madam, any more of this nonsense and there will be no Communion for you'." Ms Swanell said.

Ms Swannell said the nun fetched a pair of scissors and cut off her waist-length hair.

"I would have done anything for it not to have been true. I just didn't know what to do," she said.

Ms Swannell said the priest abused her another eight times, each time in the confessional box.

"One of the most sinister things that he did during the abuse was that he spoke in Latin so I could never repeat what he said," she said.

The current bishop of Wagga Wagga, Gerard Hanna, told the ABC that lawyers for the diocese were "still trying to get a handle on the facts".

Bishop Hanna said Father Holdsworth died in a car accident 46 years ago and there was no record of a complaint about the abuse.

Ms Swannell said she would prefer to settle her claim, but would go to court if she had to.

"Sexual abuse of a child destroys their soul. I'm entitled for my soul to be intact. I'm entitled to be an intact human being," she said.

Her case is due to be heard in the NSW Supreme Court in October.