AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald
A FEELING of deja vu might be affecting some minds in the wake of the report of the NSW special commission into allegations surrounding child sex abuse cases in the Catholic Church.
The sense that the Church will not look squarely into the face of its past sins seems troublingly familiar, as does the impression it might have more empathy for its own men of the cloth than it does for its parishioners – even those who have been victims of abuse.
Perhaps these sensations are unfair. Perhaps they are mistaken. They are, however, becoming more widespread with each passing day.
These feelings are gaining traction and becoming widely discussed and shared because of a perception – originating chiefly among members of the Church itself – that the organisation’s response to the damning findings of the commission of inquiry are weak, inadequate, patronising and self-serving.
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