AUSTRALIA
The Canberra Times
August 5, 2014
David Ellery
Reporter for The Canberra Times.
The Anglican Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn has released a public apology for “any abuse and mistreatment” that may have been experienced by individuals as “a result of their engagement with our church”.
The text of the apology, to be read out by Bishop Stuart Robinson at a “Lamentation Sunday” service this weekend, was made public on Tuesday afternoon and is targeted at childhood victims of sexual abuse.
Lamentation Sunday fulfils a pledge made by the bishop during his charge to the Diocesan Synod in Goulburn last September when he led the synod in a confession for past failures by the diocese to respond appropriately to child sex abuse.
While no specific instances of abuse were given on that occasion, a report released by the Anglican Church in 2009 cited 191 cases of child sexual abuse in 17 Anglican dioceses across Australia between 1990 and 2008.
According to the Study of Reported Child Sexual Abuse in the Anglican Church, three-quarters of the complainants were male and usually aged between 10 and 15 at the time of the alleged abuse.
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