AUSTRALIA
The Courier
By TOM MCILROY
Dec. 10, 2012
THE Catholic Church and orders including the Christian Brothers are reverting to unaccountable practices, seeking to limit financial accountability to victims of sexual abuse, an inquiry has heard.
Academic Dr Tom Keating told the Victorian inquiry into the handling of sexual abuse that the Catholic leaders had sought to wind back reforms introduced after Vatican II and that response mechanisms established by the church in Victoria sought to protect its financial and legal liabilities.
He said his own experience negotiating for compensations from the Christian Brothers, some of whose members were responsible for abuse in Ballarat schools, showed the order “had little regard for victims”.
“The effects (of abuse) become a part of the person,” he said.
“They can’t be compartmentalised, or put to one side. They are not amenable to rational persuasion.”
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