AUSTRALIA
Courier-Mail
Former Bishop William Morris tells child sex abuse inquiry the Catholic church had a culture of denial
MICHAEL MADIGAN THE COURIER-MAIL FEBRUARY 25, 2014
FORMER Toowoomba bishop William Morris has declared the Catholic Church was plagued by a culture of believing child sex abuse victims were “just making it up”.
Bishop Morris has also told the royal commission into sexual abuse he was personally sacked by Pope Benedict in 2011.
The bishop was the first person to apologise over the sexual abuse of 13 schoolgirls at the hands of former teacher Gerard Vincent Byrnes, meeting with the victims and opening the way for them to be paid compensation.
The commission heard after Byrnes was arrested, Bishop Morris sacked a principal and two education officers, who knew about the allegations but did not tell police.
Yesterday he called for the Church to set up a national body to oversee its handling of sex abuse complaints
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