The Royal Commission Can Expose the Catholic Church's Cover-ups

Broken Rites
December 6, 2013

http://brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/248

Australia's national Royal Commission on child-abuse is holding two weeks of public hearings (in Sydney, beginning on 9 December 2013) to investigate how the Catholic Church's "Towards Healing" system has handled (or mis-handled) the church's sex-abuse victims. The December hearings will focus on the experiences of several victims who came through that system.

"Towards Healing" is the church's own damage-control system (devised by the church's lawyers and public relations consultants), under which the church is allowed to "investigate" itself.

"Towards Healing" is financed by the church's in-house insurance company, Catholic Church Insurances Limited. Many victims have contacted the Royal Commission, complaining that the purpose of "Towards Healing" is primarily to help the church (and to protect its assets), rather than to help the victims. These victims say that, after going through "Towards Healing", they feel re-victimised.

To see an existing Broken Rites article about the "Towards Healing" system, click HERE.

Progress so far

In a statement on 2 December 2013, the Royal Commission said that it has so far received 8,500 phone calls, 3,000 emails and 170,000 visits to their website.

It has also held more that 917 private sessions. These are continuing across the country. The private sessions form the basis for case studies which are then examined at public hearings. By the beginning of December 2013, the Royal Commission had referred 54 matters to authorities, including police.

The commission also said that, as well as the 54 matters referred to authorities, more than 250 notices to produce documents have been served on a range of government and non-government institutions.

The royal commission intends to submit an interim report to the Federal Government in mid-2014.

Some background about the Royal Commission

For twenty years, from 1993, Broken Rites Australia has been seeking a national Royal Commission to investigate how religious organisations have covered up the problem of child-sex abuse. At last, in late 2012, the Federal Government decided to establish such a Royal Commission, which began its work in early 2013. The Commission's task is eventually to write a report to the Federal Government, recommending how Australia can protect children better from such crimes in the future.

Several developments prompted the federal government to appoint this Royal Commission:

On 2 July 2012, with help from Broken Rites, the Australian television program "Four Corners" revealed that, for thirty years, the Catholic Church authorities covered up certain allegations about a New South Wales priest, known (for legal reasons) as "Father F". In particular, the church failed to advise any of the priest's alleged child-victims about how and where to report the alleged crimes to the Sex Crime Squad of the New South Wales police.

Following twenty years of research by Broken Rites, the Victorian Parliament appointed a committee of six parliamentarians to conduct a 12-months parliamentary inquiry (but not a Royal Commission) in 2012 and 2013 into how religious organisations within Victoria have handled (or mis-handled) cases of child sexual abuse. The Victoria Police stated (in a submission to the inquiry) that child-sex crimes have been concealed by the Catholic Church systematically. For example (the submission said), the Melbourne diocese (the one covering the Melbourne-Geelong area) admitted having dealt with a large number of the church's child-sex victims but the church had not reported any of these crimes to the Victoria Police sex-crimes squad.

In the Newcastle region in New South Wales, a number of Catholic Church victims (one by one) have broken the silence about their abuse. These victims were aided by Broken Rites Australia and by an investigative journalist (Joanne McCarthy of the Newcastle Herald daily newspaper). Joanne McCarthy's articles resulted in her winning the Australian media's top Walkey Award for journalism in 2013. Victims also received help from some conscientious NSW Police detectives in the Newcastle region. These Newcastle-region revelations forced the NSW government to appoint a Special Commission of Inquiry into two Catholic priests, although the government confined this inquiry to the Newcastle region, not the whole state.

Thus, the Australian federal government has finally established a national Royal Commission to investigate the issue of child abuse in religious and other organisations more generally. The commission is focussing on the manner in which these organisations have handled (or covered up) the problem of child sexual abuse. The commission is an opportunity for victims to reveal how they feel re-victimised after going through the Catholic Church's "Towards Healing" process.

Further information

To see the Royal Commission's website, click HERE.

To see Frequently Asked Questions about the Commission, click HERE.

The Commission's website gives an email address, where you can register your wish to provide information.

Or you can phone the commission on 1800 033 340

Listening to victims

The Commissioners have been travelling around Australia to hold private interviews with victims. For example, Catholic victims can tell the Commissioners about how their case was handled (or mis-handled) by the Catholic Church's "Towards Healing" process.

The Commissions are holding occasional public hearings on specific topics, and the Commission's website gives the date of these.

Free legal advice

Australia has an independent not-for-profit service, called "Knowmore", giving free legal advice to people who are considering telling their story to this Royal Commission. "Knowmore" can advise victims about how to tell their story to the Royal Commission.

The phone number for "Knowmore" is 1800 605 762.

Talking to the detectives

As well as speaking to the Royal Commissioners, any victim should also have a chat with detectives in the state police services. Broken Rites can advise any victim about where to arrange for a specialist police interview. Too often, a victim presumes (incorrectly) that he or she is the only victim of a particular perpetrator. However, sometimes, the detectives might already know of other victims. With more evidence, the detectives can eventually arrest and charge any child-molester but only if the victims have talked to the detectives. A victim's name is never published.

Investigating the "Towards Healing" system

In late 2013, the Royal Commission issued an invitation for stakeholders to make written submissions about "Towards Healing". Dr Wayne Chamley, an honorary advocate for victims through Broken Rites, compiled a submission. To see Dr Chamley's paper, click HERE.