AUSTRALIA
7 News
By Simon Lauder, staff, ABC
November 9, 2012
The Catholic Church will release internal files on child sexual abuse within the clergy after a request from the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child abuse.
Victims’ advocates have been pressuring the inquiry to use its powers to obtain the church’s own files, arguing they are crucial to finding out what church leaders knew about widespread abuse by priests and brothers.
On Friday, the committee revealed it had asked the church to hand over those documents.
Church spokesman Father Shane Mackinlay says it will cooperate with the inquiry.
“We have no reason to withhold any of those sort of files,” he said.
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