AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au
Catholic Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe apologises for abuse in open letter
THE head of the Catholic Church in Perth has written to all members before next week’s royal commission into child sexual abuse hearings, saying “we have failed terribly”.
In an open letter to the entire Catholic community, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe of the Archdiocese of Perth reiterated his full support for the work of the commission, which will hold hearings in the city from April 28 until May 9.
He expects a particular focus will be the abuse at institutions run by the Christian Brothers, especially at Castledare, Clontarf, Tardun and Bindoon.
“It was from these institutions that horrific stories of sexual abuse by Catholic religious brothers and others associated with the church first emerged in our Australian context,” the archbishop wrote.
“We now know, to our shame, that this problem has been far more widespread.
“The curse of sexual abuse has infected the Catholic church right around the country.
“Tragically, it is becoming ever clearer that it is a universal problem for the church.
“We have some hard questions to answer.”
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