AUSTRALIA
Sky News (AAP)
December 6, 2017
The Ballarat Catholic Church’s catastrophic and inexcusable failures led to more children being sexually abused by its clergy, a royal commission has found.
The response within the Diocese of Ballarat to abuse complaints spanning at least three decades was driven by a desire to avoid scandal and protect the church’s reputation, the commission said.
Priests were moved to another parish if allegations emerged where they often offended again.
The inexcusable failures led to more children being sexually abused by Catholic clergy in the diocese.
‘That failure led to the suffering and often irreparable harm to children, their families and the wider community,’ the commission said in its report released on Wednesday.
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.