AUSTRALIA
International Business Times
By Ritwik Roy @ritwikroy
December 01 2015
The royal commission has heard that a “paralysis” plagued the Catholic Church’s response to abuse allegation for decades and that made innocent children vulnerable to the dangers from paedophile priests. Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart appeared before the child abuse royal commission and blamed top church officials including Archbishop Frank Little for the situation. However, he did not criticize his predecessor Cardinal George Pell.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Archbishop Hart described processes followed by Melbourne Archdiocese as a “complete failure” when it came to dealing with paedophile issues. He also described the allegations referred to Doveton parish Catholic education officials as “just a horror story.”
“What is now apparent to me is that there was knowledge and a failure to act. I have just been totally appalled by the extent and the depravity of the offenders and the suffering and ruination of lives of the survivors,” he said.
In another shocking revelation, the commission has heard that in 1968, paedophile priest Father Wilfred “Bill” Baker had no qualms disclosing heartlessly the confessions of a 13-year-old altar boy BTU. He was an assistant priest at St Mary’s Parish and chaplain of St Mary’s Boys School in St Kilda East. Baker disclosed the child’s confessions to notorious paedophile priest Ronald Pickering so that he was abused more by the latter, reports The Guardian.
“By mentioning it to Fr Pickering, Fr Baker clearly had no hesitation in breaking the seal of my confession to him and also Fr Pickering appeared to be agitated and was clearly concerned about this,” said BTU.
BTU revealed that the abuse made him tremendously confused as a child as he was always taught how holy priests are and how they are just next to God. However, whatever Father Pickering was doing to him was not at all in line with Christian teachings. BTU was abused by Pickering till the age of 23 which broke him completely.
In 1976, predator priest Baker started sexually abusing a 12-year-old BTO while his parents were asleep in another room. He ultimately told his mother, an assistant priest in 1978. Forty years later, BTO is overwhelmed to see that someone (the royal commission) cares.
In 1999, Baker was convicted for sexually abusing BTO and seven other boys between 1960 and 1979. Although BTO’s family received $35,000 as compensation from archdiocese’s Melbourne Response scheme, it made him feel dirty.
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