AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites
By a Broken Rites researcher, article updated 3 February 2017
The Catholic Church in Australia harboured the paedophile priest Brian Joseph Spillane throughout his career, enabling him to commit sexual crimes against children. Father Spillane’s victims were mostly boys who were assaulted while he ministered at St Stanislaus College — a Catholic day and boarding secondary school for boys, in Bathurst, New South Wales. And he assaulted girls in parishes elsewhere. Spillane (now aged 73) has recently completed a series of separate criminal trials, resulting in multiple convictions. The courts heard the girls’ cases first, and Spillane is now in jail regarding three girls. On 3 February 2017 he faced a pre-sentence procedure for his most recent trials regarding 18 boys. A formal sentencing will be held on a later date to announce his total time behind bars.
Reverend Brian Spillane, C.M, was a priest in the Catholic order of Vincentian Fathers and Brothers (also called the Congregation of the Mission — hence the initials “C.M.” after his name). The Vincentians are an Australia-wide order, not confined to a particular diocese. As well as establishing the St Stanislaus boys’ boarding school in Bathurst, the Vincentians have also provided priests for several parishes in Sydney, Melbourne and Queensland.
Police have been told that, sometimes, a Vincentian clergyman would try to groom a young boy. Sometimes such a boy might be recruited for training as a future Vincentian brother or priest.
Traditionally, the Vincentians’ sexual-abuse has been successfully concealed from the public but, in recent years, some of the Vincentians’ victims have finally spoken (separately) to NSW Police detectives. Thus, a significant number of Vincentian priests and brothers have recently been charged in the criminal courts.
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