Call for Abuse Cases to Be Dealt with Regionally

By Michael Otto
NZ Catholic
April 6, 2017

https://www.nzcatholic.org.nz/2017/04/06/call-for-abuse-cases-to-be-dealt-with-regionally/

A New Zealand Catholic Church official has suggested that priests accused of sex abuse would be better dealt with regionally, rather than their cases being referred to Rome.

Bill Kilgallon, the national director of the National Office for Professional Standards in New Zealand, was one of several members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors to appear before a hearing of Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on February 23 in Sydney.

Mr Kilgallon responded to an invitation to comment on how well the process of referring accused Catholic priests to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith works.

He described the process as “slow”, adding that “there are systems that could be improved considerably”.