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Christian Brothers Offered Pedophile Brethren a Second Chance

By Tessa Akerman
The Australian
July 11, 2017

https://goo.gl/fH4HMe

A provincial leader of the Christian Brothers gave pedophile brothers a second chance to stay in the order, if there were repentant and submitted to a “jolly good talking to”, documents tendered to the abuse royal commission ­reveal.

Brother James Athanasius McGlade told officers from Catholic Church Insurance in a 2004 interview that he viewed brothers subject to a complaint as deserving of a second chance if they had some “knowledge” of their ­offence and were repentant. He said he also admonished them to a certain degree and expressed the hope it wouldn’t happen again.

“First complaint, a brother would be given a second chance after a jolly good talking to,” the insurance officer said. “If there was a second complaint, then generally he was out of the order.”

Brother McGlade agreed and said he was always hopeful that a brother who abused children would repent and have the opportunity of atoning readily for his first “failure”.

“I want to emphasise that it did happen in a number of cases and men who are still, some of them, wonderful men and who have been a credit really to the Christian Brothers,” he said. “They failed once and they didn’t fail again.”

The documents reveal one of the cases he dealt with was that of GLX, who told CCI officers he informed Brother McGlade in 1970 that he was seriously attracted to children and asked if he could be given non-school work.

 

 

 

 

 




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