AUSTRALIA
News 24
Sydney – Attorney-General Nicola Roxon said on Wednesday it was “abhorrent” for priests not to report paedophilic acts revealed in the confessional, and urged Australia’s child sex inquiry to investigate the issue.
Australia has announced a royal commission into how religious organisations, not-for-profit bodies, state agencies, schools and police have responded to child sex abuse in a wide-ranging inquiry set to take years.
Roxon said one of the issues it could consider was whether the protection of the confessional should be removed.
“I think the royal commission needs to look very carefully… at institutional barriers, at systematic problems, of course that might include those very sensitive issues for religious organisations,” she said.
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