Catholic Church Sex Abuse Workers Trained for Two Days, Royal Commission Told

By Thomas Oriti
7 News
December 9, 2013

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/20244901/catholic-church-sex-abuse-workers-trained-for-two-days-royal-commission-told/

An inquiry into child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church has heard the people involved in a pastoral and redress scheme for victims received two days of training.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is examining the Towards Healing process, established by the Church in 1996 to respond to complaints against its personnel.

The Church's Director of Professional Standards in Queensland, Mary Bernadette Rogers, says she participated in a two-day course in 1997 before she started to liaise with victims.

She told the inquiry that was enough, given that staff already had experience in "dispute resolution".

Ms Rogers was involved in the case of Joan Isaacs, who was abused by a priest when she was 14 years old.

The commissioner heard that in 1967, Father Francis Derriman told her he was going to die and said he needed to have sex with her.

He was later sentenced to a year in jail, suspended after four months.

Ms Rogers has explained to the commission the role of a Towards Healing "facilitator" in cases such as that of Joan Isaacs.

Mary Bernadette Rogers*: I'd ask the complainant what they wanted, and they told me.

Counsel-Assisting Gail Furness SC*: So they'd give you an amount?

Ms Rogers agreed, and said she would then receive an amount from church authorities in a separate room before trying to reach a "consensus".

Prior to a review of Towards Healing, a standard offer to victims was ten counselling sessions before a review.

Remuneration was added to negotiations in 2002 after a review of the process.

A letter was also read at the hearing about Joan Isaacs, from the Manager of Special Projects within Catholic Church Insurances, Laurie Rolls, to a representative of the Archdiocese of Brisbane dated 19 April 1999.

"If Ms Isaacs resorts to legal representation, she forfeits the right to your continuing offer of pastoral communication," it read.

The letter also referred to Reverend Adrian Farrelly from the Archdiocese of Brisbane, saying he agreed he would, "engage in a form of apology which expresses sorrow that such events could take place," but it would, "avoid any suggestion the Archdiocese is itself responsible for the actions of the priest."

Instructed to "express sorrow", but not offer an apology

When Joan Isaacs came forward, Reverend Farrelly was appointed as a Towards Healing "facilitator" in the case.

He had not acted in the role before and had little involvement with Towards Healing in the aftermath.

Reverend Farrelly admits being instructed by a Manager with Catholic Church Insurances to "avoid compensation talk" with Mrs Isaacs.

The hearing was told he entered into the facilitation process aware that he was not able to offer compensation to the victim at all.

"I was not entitled to move into the area of compensation," he said, after a series of questions from the Counsel Assisting.

Reverend Farrelly has also told the hearing he was instructed to "express sorrow", but not offer an apology.

Justice Peter McClellan asked the Reverend whether it was right for the Church to apologise to Mrs Isaacs and "the many others who have been abused by priests or other Church people".

"I can accept that, yes," he responded.

Despite this, Reverend Farrelly believes he did issue an apology to Mrs Isaacs in his own way.

"Even though I made no apology, the words of expressing sorrow and all the rest of it - I take it in the position that I was in, that I was the face of the Church for Mrs Isaacs and I was saying sorry," he said.

Joan Isaacs was paid after two years of negotiations.

A 'just and compassionate outcome'

The man at the forefront of Towards Healing when the Joan Isaacs case was handled in Brisbane was Dr Kenneth Robertson.

Dr Robertson is a former Convenor of the Queensland Professional Standards Office, and held the position when Towards Healing was first established.

He met Mrs Isaacs for the first time in 1999, and co-ordinated the training course referred to by Mary Bernadette Rogers.

Dr Robertson has told the Royal Commission he admits there were areas of weakness when Towards Healing was first rolled out, with little attention given to research or training.

He said he received no special training at the time, and came to the role with an administrative background.

The Chair of the Commission, Justice Peter McClellan, asked Dr Robertson whether he thought Ms Isaacs "got a just and compassionate outcome" in her case.

He replied "no", describing the two-year wait for Ms Isaacs to receive her money as "nonsense", adding that the, "monetary outcome was not handled well."

"She was absolutely devastated, she had to wait thirty years," he said.

The Royal Commission's fourth case study opened with an apology from the Catholic Church.

Counsel representing the Truth, Justice and Healing Council within the Church, Peter Gray SC, labelled the situation "disgraceful", and conceded that the Catholic Church failed in a "fundamental part of its mission".

The apology came after Mr Gray quoted a passage from the Gospel of Mark, prompting a dozen people in the public gallery to leave.

The hearing continues.