AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald
By JOANNE McCARTHY
Dec. 5, 2012
DANIEL Feenan thanked two women yesterday for helping him deal with being sexually assaulted by a priest as a child.
The first was his mother, Patricia Feenan, who will launch her book about the church’s betrayal, Holy Hell, in Newcastle tomorrow.
The second was Prime Minister Julia Gillard, whose decision to hold a royal commission into child sexual abuse ‘‘validated what happened’’ to him and sent a message to the many Catholics who refused to accept Father Jim Fletcher was a paedophile.
‘‘I cried, I don’t mind telling you. It was just a massive relief,’’ Mr Feenan said.
‘‘To actually have the Prime Minister say a royal commission was needed, told everyone that children were sexually assaulted by adults, and the government believed them.’’
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