AUSTRALIA
The Age
July 23, 2015
Michael Kelly
As the Royal Commission into sex abuse struggles to cope with endless tales of tragedy, it is important to remember there are many ways in which a child can be put at risk. This week Melbourne’s Catholic Archbishop offered another graphic example of how those who have authority over the most vulnerable can choose to leave them in harm’s way.
In 2007 Denis Hart had the chance to do what bishops all over the country were doing. He could have welcomed the Not So Straight report by Jesuit Social Services, which was aimed at helping teachers respond to the needs of gay teens in Catholic schools.
Hart had to make sure that Melbourne schools were more Catholic than Catholic.
Like many reports before and since, this study highlighted widespread bullying and homophobic abuse in schools and detailed high levels of self harm, and even suicide, among LGBT students. It also offered practical strategies and training programs for principals and teachers, all aimed at helping students – and all within the framework of Catholic social justice principles.
The archbishop buried the report. For him, it was not doctrinally pristine. Its denunciations and condemnations were not sufficiently clear. He could not countenance the possibility that same-sex attracted students might think their sexual orientation was “tolerated”, or that, God forbid, it might even be part of the natural diversity of human experience. Never mind that dioceses all over Australia welcomed and implemented the Jesuits’ report. The archbishop had to make sure that Melbourne schools were more Catholic than Catholic.
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