AUSTRALIA
ABC News
[with video]
By Cath McAloon
Victoria’s most senior Catholic has told a parliamentary inquiry into child sex abuse the church was too slow to act in the past when dealing with paedophile priests.
The Archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart, has given evidence at the inquiry, which is investigating the church’s response to allegations of abuse.
He apologised for the church’s failure to recognise and deal with allegations of sexual abuse, describing it as one of the darkest periods in the church’s history.
He told the committee there had been terrible failings in the church’s response to sexual abuse allegations.
Archbishop Hart admitted that a former Archbishop of Melbourne, Frank Little, covered up allegations of abuse and moved known paedophiles to other parishes.
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