AUSTRALIA
Geelong Advertiser
Mandy Squires | March 30th, 2012
GEELONG’S top Catholic priest has called for an independent inquiry into the church’s treatment of sexual abuse complaints.
St Mary’s parish priest Father Kevin Dillon yesterday said the church’s moral authority had been “compromised to an extraordinary degree” by its failure to independently review the handling of sexual abuse claims.
“People from both within and outside the church are saying as long as you haven’t got this right … then why should we listen to anything else you say and that’s fair comment,” he said.
The church had a duty of care to the people who had suffered abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy, teachers and carers to ensure the processes it had in place to handle complaints were just, transparent and compassionate, he said.
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