AUSTRALIA
The Advocate
Melissa CunninghamMelissa Cunningham
@MeljCunningham
10 Feb 2017
A culture of secrecy, the misuse of canon law by Catholic Church hierarchy to conceal child sex crimes and the Vatican’s role in orchestrating a widespread cover-up, were at the centre of a royal commission’s hearings this week.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse’s final hearing into the Australian Catholic Church, is examining how systemic institutional factors, including structure, governance and culture prevailed over the safety of children and allowed paedophile clergy to flourish for decades.
On Monday, the extent of child sexual abuse in the Australian Catholic Church was laid bare. World first data showing between 1980 and 2015, 4,444 people alleged incidents of child sexual abuse relating to 93 Catholic Church authorities.
Almost one in ten priests in the Diocese of Ballarat had allegations of child sexual abuse levelled against them between 1950 and 2010, the inquiry heard.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.