AUSTRALIA
Debrief Daily
[with copy of the letter from Archbishop Fisher]
SARAH MACDONALD
@sarahvmac
Catholic schoolkids in Sydney have brought home a note to parents headed ‘Speaking the Truth in Love’.
But many Catholic parents will not be feeling the love.
Penned by the Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher and published on his website, it references the horrific stories emerging from the Royal Commission hearings in Ballarat, which the Most Rev. Fisher admits are ‘harrowing and for many people demoralising’.
Witnesses have talked of the brutal bashings and sex crimes they experienced as young boys at the hands of trusted and respected Catholic clergymen. They have told stories of children shared around by pedophiles, and revealed that when they tried to speak out they were actually punished for speaking ill of God’s holy representatives.
The abuse is believed to have contributed to 45 suicides or early deaths in the region.
So what does Anthony Fisher say to his flock? He says he is appalled by the conduct of some priests and shares feelings of contamination and shame.
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