BishopAccountability.org

Editorial: Abuse Inquiry, at Long Last

Geelong Advertiser
April 18, 2012

www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2012/04/18/320491_opinion.html

Saundra Chapman, who lived at St Catherine's orphanage in Highton in 1947, has welcomed the inquiry into abuse by churches and charities.

FEW people could argue the handling of the appalling sexual abuses crimes against children by teachers and staff in religious orders could always have been conducted better. Much better. Both by the church and by government.

Even years after perpetrators have been identified, prosecuted and jailed, even years after victims have been counselled and compensated, the problems persist. Fact is, the legacy of the sex crimes against young children follows them long into later life. Some simply never get over it, their lives have been shattered and no monetary figure, no prison sentence against their offenders, will change that.

But for many, the long years of justice delayed/denied has amounted to institutionalised injustice and posed perhaps the greatest hurdle in their bid for recovery. For many, the Catholic Church's efforts have been little more than lip service and damage control.

It must be noted suicides continue and victims continue the demand for an independent inquiry into the church's handling of its in-house abuses. Even leading members of the church itself, such as Geelong Fr Kevin Dillon, have petitioned for such.

The Baillieu Government's parliamentary inquiry, therefore, is a welcome - even if very belated - addition to the prosecution of these abuses and hopefully an important stepping stone in the long overdue delivery of justice.

No-one should be fooled into thinking this process will be easy, or definitive in its outcomes. It is a parliamentary inquiry and therefore implicitly political. But it does seem a positive move and we hope it can lead to justice for victims and towards a legislative code that serves as both preventative and adversarial against any future abuses.




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