AUSTRALIA
Eureka Street
Kristina Keneally November 22, 2012
‘By their fruits you shall know them,’ says Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount. He is talking about the religious leaders of his time, and reminding people that actions speak louder than words, especially when it comes to discerning holiness and devotion to God.
As a Catholic, I can’t help reflecting on and being challenged by this in light of recent events.
My soul has been wrenched reading the stories of abuse of children, many of them incredibly vulnerable, at the hands of Catholic priests and brothers. It’s utter horror to contemplate such crimes.
Stories of sexual abuse in the Church have circulated for years, and in America and Ireland the systematic horror has been exposed. Perhaps it was naive, but those of us in Australia — Catholic and non-Catholic alike — weren’t forced to face the potential scale and magnitude of the problem here.
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