AUSTRALIA
3AW
[with audio]
Posted by: Ellen Feely | 11 October, 2012
A spokesperson for the Catholic Church says anyone who impedes Police should be punished, after Victoria Police made a damning submission to a parliamentary inquiry which indicated the Church was actively hindering investigations.
Priest of the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat, and parish priest of St Michael’s in Bungaree, Father Shane Mackinlay told Neil Mitchell the Church encouraged anyone accused of deliberately obstructing investigations to face the law.
“Certainly if you’re doing that (impeding investigations) for benefit, that’s a criminal offence and we would encourage any of those situations to be prosecuted,” he said.
Father Mackinlay admitted the Catholic Church’s culture had previously been one of secrecy and resistance to acknowledging incidences of child abuse, but the rate of pedophilia occurring within the organisation was comparable to the rest of society.
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