AUSTRALIA
The Canberra Times
June 12, 2018
By Michelle James
It is hard to know where to begin with Archbishop Christopher Prowse’s plea on behalf of the Catholic Church for the ACT government to preserve the seal of religious confession, even in instances where a child is being sexually abused (“Reporting scheme shouldn’t ignore Catholic community’s wish to be part of the solution”, The Canberra Times, June 7, 2018).
Thankfully, the ACT Assembly wasn’t swayed as it voted last week to introduce Australia’s toughest new mandatory reporting laws, making it a leader in child safety. But there is no doubt the Catholic Church will never give up trying to stop the other states and territories from following the ACT’s lead and that is why the arguments of Archbishop Prowse, which seek to undermine the efficacy of these reforms, must be called out.
The Catholic Church has a shameful track record when it comes to acting on child sex abuse. Archbishop Prowse acknowledges that past and seeks to purport that the Church wants to be a part of the solution, but as an advocate for abuse survivors, all I see today is more of the same: a failure from the Church to act as the community expects in putting child safety first.
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