AUSTRALIA
Daily Examiner
Jessica Grewal 28th Nov 2013
ONE of the most senior members of the Anglican Church of Australia has personally apologised to victims who suffered child sex abuse at Lismore’s North Coast Children’s home and welcomed the public scrutiny arising from the historic royal commission.
In the final moments of this week’s hearings into the Grafton Diocese’s response to claims of abuse at the home, Adrian Herft, Archbishop of Perth, took the rare step of making an unguarded statement.
He told the commission he was “profoundly saddened” by what took place at Lismore and that “people who rightly expected the sanctity and dignity of life did not receive it but received something totally opposite to that, which has harmed or hurt them”.
He went on to say he was “deeply remorseful” than any acts of commission or omission on his own part may have added to the trauma and said he hoped that the commission would help the Church to “get a handle on how best we should have our structures in place to assist the ongoing work… as it continues to be a witness in our land”.
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