AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

December 2, 2013

Joanne McCarthy

In late 2008 a Newcastle woman wrote to a senior Australian Catholic clergyman and sought a meeting. She wanted a personal apology from him. In 1995 the clergyman, who can’t be named for legal reasons, had a role in the attempted defrocking of notorious paedophile priest Denis McAlinden. The woman, who attended the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry in Newcastle this year, was eight when McAlinden first sexually abused her during confession.

The senior clergyman replied on November 20, 2008. His heart was ”full of compassion” for her and she was ”constantly” in his prayers, he wrote. Learning her story was ”one of the saddest experiences of my life”. He had offered a Mass for her where he ”asked the Lord to give you a deep sense of peace and healing”. But there would be no meeting or apology.

In…