AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald
November 30, 2015
Beau Donelly
Reporter
Vulnerable children were in danger of being targeted by paedophile priests because a “paralysis” plagued the Catholic Church’s response to abuse allegations for decades, the royal commission has heard.
Appearing before the child abuse royal commission on Monday, Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart laid the blame at the feet of top church officials, including former Archbishop Frank Little, but did not criticise his predecessor Cardinal George Pell over his role in the abuse scandal.
Archbishop Hart said there was a “complete failure” of processes within the Melbourne Archdiocese when dealing with child sex abuse complaints, and described allegations referred to Catholic education officials about the Doveton parish as “just a horror story”.
“What is now apparent to me is that there was knowledge and a failure to act,” he said. “I have just been totally appalled by the extent and the depravity of the offenders and the suffering and ruination of lives of the survivors.”
According to Archbishop Hart, the failure stemmed from the office of former Archbishop Frank Little, who headed the Melbourne diocese from 1974 to 1996, and other top church officials including vicars-general Gerald Cudmore, Hilton Deakin and Peter Connors.
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