AUSTRALIA
9 News
The Catholic diocese of Maitland-Newcastle has admitted the church is “broken” and will hold a series of prayer gatherings to start afresh amid a slew of child sex abuse allegations.
In a statement on Wednesday, diocesan co-ordinator for The Year of Grace, Sister Louise Gannon, said the local community was invited to gather with Newcastle-Maitland Bishop Bill Wright “for prayers of healing and hope” at six different locations in the Hunter region during Lent.
“We recognise with the history of sexual abuse in this diocese, we have a need to pray together and ritualise our need for healing,” Sr Gannon said.
“This is a very significant and public aspect of our brokenness as a church and in the context of … the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry and the Royal Commission we would not have a prayer focused on healing without naming it as such.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.