BishopAccountability.org

Church's Work Is Just Beginning

Sunday Herald Sun
June 2, 2013

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/churchs-work-is-just-beginning/story-fni0ffsx-1226655081154

THE highly unusual confession from Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart of his personal feelings of shame and burden over the Catholic church's handling of child sexual abuse cases, makes for compelling reading.

In an interview published in the Sunday Herald Sun, Victoria's most senior Catholic frankly admits his faith has been tested - but ultimately reaffirmed - as the church finally faces up to decades of child abuse within its ranks.

Archbishop Hart reveals he feels sad, hurt and betrayed by members of his fellow clergy and their sins of the past in either abusing children or covering up the crimes that stole the innocence of countless children and teens.

He also admits he made some mistakes with his own personal response to the crisis, despite being horrified from the moment he, after being promoted to vicar general in 1996, realised his predecessors had systematically shielded paedophiles and that he had inherited a mess.

The reflections from Archbishop Hart are heartening in that they suggest the church - for so long accused of being slow to react and lacking in understanding of the impact of abuse - is finally soul-searching over the disgraceful failings of the past, which have devastated too many lives.

Who knows how much comfort, if any, his comments will provide to victims and their families?

For whatever the Archbishop says, and no matter how many apologies he makes, the admissions from the church took far too long.

Victims, whose lives have been ruined, have had their suffering severely exacerbated by the church's refusal to deal with problems in a caring way.

While owning up to the problems and saying sorry now is important, the church must understand that saying sorry now is never going to be enough.

The parents of the victims trusted the church with their children, and their trust was breached.

The victims themselves trusted the church, and their trust was breached, too.

And when victims and families came to the church, they expected to be treated with great care, compassion, humility and an interest in making sure every one of them got justice.

What they got was nothing of the sort.

It can only be hoped the latest comments from Archbishop Hart are another step toward righting these many wrongs and to ensuring safeguards are put in place to prevent further abuse.

The Archbishop is right in saying these difficult times for Catholics are an opportunity for the church to examine itself, and that the church should redouble its efforts in light of "this dark side" that has emerged.

But he really hits the nail on the head when he says: "There still remains a lot to be done."




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