AUSTRALIA
Lez Get Real
Posted by: Bridgette P. LaVictoire on May 27, 2013.
Australia’s top-ranking Cardinal, George Pell, has admitted what most peple pretty much already knew- that fear of scandal prompted the Catholic Church to coverup child sexual abuse allegations. While denying being involved personally in the coverup of pedophile priests, Cardinal Pell told Victoria, Australia’s parliament that “The primary motivation would have been to respect the reputation of the church. There was a fear of scandal.”
The Australian state is looking into the coverup of child sexual abuse by members of the Catholic Church and various non-government organizations. The panel has already heard about how 620 children were sexually abused by Catholic clergy since the 1930′s. Victims were as young as seven and were often raped.
While priests associated with the Catholic and Anglican churches have been identified as having sexual abused children, they typically abuse children at a lower rate than those from religions without a strict hierarchy. The problem has not been the actual abuse quite so much as the decision by the Catholic Church to hide the assaults.
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