AUSTRALIA
Bendigo Advertiser
By Annie Young Sept. 4, 2014
JOSEPH Conrad wrote, “A belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.”
Last week I read an obituary notice in The Age (August 30) concerning a much loved young man; Sam committed suicide as a result of suffering years of depression, periodic anxiety and panic attacks. His friends knew him as a bright, gregarious and funny guy.
His counsellor knew differently. He knew a young man who had been sexually abused by a locum priest at his Catholic primary school, a priest who then ordered Sam not to tell his parents or the school under threat of rejection and expulsion.
For years Sam carried memories of that abuse, the uncontrollable thoughts, helplessness and enduring pain. This triggered his depression.
Only this year Sam, with the support of his counsellor, told his loving family. Heartache does not end with the victim.
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