AUSTRALIA
The Australian
MICHELLE AINSWORTH, ANNIKA SMETHURST From: Herald Sun May 20, 2013
THE CATHOLIC Church has been more interested in protecting its reputation and fortune than caring for the victims of child sex abuse, Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart has admitted.
Archbishop Hart fronted the parliamentary inquiry into child sex abuse for the first time in a gruelling three-hour questioning session today.
When asked about the secrecy surrounding pre-1990 abuse claims, Archbishop Hart admitted that former archbishop Frank Little had kept all allegations confidential.
“The church was too keen to look after herself and her good name, and not keen enough to address the terrible anguish of the victims,” Archbishop Hart said.
But he shocked the inquiry’s public gallery when he said it was “better late than never” that the church had taken 18 years to write to Rome to have a priest excommunicated after he was convicted of child molestation.
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