Regional areas ‘breeding ground’ for child sex abuse, inquiry told

By Melissa Cunningham
Hepburn Advocate
February 21, 2017

http://www.hepburnadvocate.com.au/story/4483983/regional-areas-breeding-ground-for-child-sex-abuse-inquiry-told/?cs=12

Regional areas were a “breeding ground” for emotionally immature Catholic clergy who easily entrenched themselves in communities and went onto sexually abuse children undetected, an inquiry heard.   

In a frank admissions to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn, Christopher Prowse said on Tuesday an “extraordinary level of trust” was invested in priests in country communities.

When asked by Counsel Assisting the Royal Commission Gail Furness SC why regional areas were epicentres of clergy sexual abuse, Archbishop Prowse, who was bishop of Sale between 2009 and 2013, said priests were often welcomed into homes without question. 

“It was a breeding ground for immature and disconnected priests to be able to move into that area, perhaps, more so numerically than in a bigger city where getting to know the priest is not as easy,” he said.

“(They) were able to really become part of the family in a way that wouldn't have been so in a bigger city.”

Data gathered by the inquiry found almost one in ten priests in the Diocese of Ballarat had allegations of child sexual abuse levelled against them between 1950 and 2010.  

The Sale Diocese was ranked the worst in Australia, with 15.1 per cent of priests accused of abuse for the same period.  

Parramatta Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen said titles and the Catholic Church's institutional dynamics breed “clerical superiority and elitism".

He told the sex abuse inquiry, he too was sexually abused by a member of clergy, when he came to Australia as an adult refugee from Vietnam.

“That had a powerful impact on me,” he said.

“I want to walk in the shoes of other victims and really endeavour to attain justice and dignity for them.”

Bishop Long called for a review of mandatory celibacy and systematic structures which he said separated clergy from parishioners.

He said a monumental failing of the church was a hierarchical system that meant priests were only accountable to the bishops above them.

"There's no accountability that reaches outwards or downwards, and that's the critical problem," he said

Hobart  Archbishop Julian Porteous told the inquiry the Catholic Church had failed to comprehend the seriousness of the effects of sexual abuse on children.

The inquiry has previously heard evidence that a culture of secrecy, celibacy and the structure and governance of the church contributed to the abuse. 

The hearing continues on Wednesday and is expected to hear from the bishops of Darwin, Broome and the Maronite diocese.