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CALL TO PRAYER: Archbishop Costelloe issues Pastoral letter ahead of final Royal Commission hearings
The Record
Archbishop Timothy Costelloe has this week encouraged the Perth Catholic community to pray for the work of the Royal Commission, as it begins to bring its public hearings to a conclusion. In a Pastoral Letter issued to all Catholic parishes across the Archdiocese of Perth, the Archbishop said a call to prayer must never be seen as a substitute for decisive, transparent and effective action in relation to the horror of sexual abuse. “Our faith assures us that if our actions are deeply grounded in our openness to God’s grace then they will produce the fruit we, and the whole of our society, so desperately want to see,” the Archbishop said. “I ask you too, to continue to pray for the victims and survivors of sexual abuse in our Church,” the Archbishop said. The final hearings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse are scheduled to run for six weeks from 6 February, with the first three weeks to be devoted to an investigation into the response of the Catholic Church in Australia to the tragic scandal of sexual abuse in Catholic parishes, schools, orphanages and other institutions. “These last public hearings of the Royal Commission will inevitably be a stressful and painful time for many,” the Archbishop continued. “Paradoxically it might also be a time of healing,” he said. “As a community we are deeply shamed by the failures of so many in our Church in relation to the care of our children and young people. “More than this we are horrified by the suffering which has been inflicted on so many innocent people. “As I have in the past, I once again express our profound sorrow and apology for this shocking failure on our part and for the pain it has caused to so many. As a Church we are committed now to doing everything we can to ensure that this evil is eradicated from our midst. The Archbishop went on to explain that the Church’s lamentable record of child protection in times gone past will be painful for all of us. “It is important that we recognise the gift which the Royal Commission has been and continues to be, not just for the Catholic Church in Australia, but for our society as a whole. “The prevalence of sexual abuse of children and young people in so many institutional settings in Australia, including the churches, indicates that there is a sickness at the heart of our nation which simply must be addressed. “This sickness has been particularly evident in the history of our own Church and we must honestly and unflinchingly confront the reasons for this. The first step, the Archbishop noted, is to shine a light on the dark corners of our Church and society. “This is precisely what the Royal Commission has been doing and will continue to do. “It is only by acknowledging the extent of the problem that we as a society, and within that society we as the Catholic Church, can begin to find solutions and bring healing and hope. The Archbishop also explained that he has, along with many others, received a summons to appear before the Royal Commission in Sydney. “Please pray also for me. While I am engaged in this vital matter, Bishop Sproxton will administer the work of the Archdiocese, supported of course by the Vicar General, Fr Peter Whitely.” “In conclusion let me offer some words from one of the Lenten Hymns found in the Breviary, the official Prayer of the Church. “It is a prayer I often pray myself: perhaps it might form part of your prayer too as we seek to respond to the suffering, shame and anger to which the shocking failures of our past have given birth. Lord, what we have darkened heal with light – and what we have destroyed make whole.
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