AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun
Editorial
From:Herald Sun
May 01, 2013
THE Catholic Church should hang its head in shame after being forced to admit its priests abused children while their superiors covered up their crimes.
But whether the church understands the enormity of its transgressions remains a burning question.
Once again, the same excuse was offered for the cover-up as for the crimes.
In years past, child abuse was seen as a sin, not necessarily as a crime. But to offer that as an explanation is to ignore what any reasonable person would regard as an offence that should be reported to police. That was as true then as it is now.
But the former Bishop of Ballarat admitted the Catholic Church “effectively facilitated” sexual abuse by leaving known paedophiles in place.
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