AUSTRALIA
Geelong Advertiser
FEW people could argue the handling of the appalling sexual abuses crimes against children by teachers and staff in religious orders could always have been conducted better. Much better. Both by the church and by government.
Even years after perpetrators have been identified, prosecuted and jailed, even years after victims have been counselled and compensated, the problems persist. Fact is, the legacy of the sex crimes against young children follows them long into later life. Some simply never get over it, their lives have been shattered and no monetary figure, no prison sentence against their offenders, will change that.
But for many, the long years of justice delayed/denied has amounted to institutionalised injustice and posed perhaps the greatest hurdle in their bid for recovery. For many, the Catholic Church’s efforts have been little more than lip service and damage control.
It must be noted suicides continue and victims continue the demand for an independent inquiry into the church’s handling of its in-house abuses. Even leading members of the church itself, such as Geelong Fr Kevin Dillon, have petitioned for such.
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