AUSTRALIA
The Tablet (UK)
11 February 2015 by Liz Dodd, Mark Brolly
The Church systematically failed abuse survivors in Australia, the royal commission has found.
In reports released today the commission strongly criticised the Church’s adherence to the Towards Healing protocol, the Australian bishops’ guidelines on handling abuse allegations.
In a number of cases it found that the Church did not act in accordance with these principles. In one instance it imposed an obligation of silence on a victim and in another it failed to provide assistance and spiritual direction.
It also said that the Sydney archdiocese and Cardinal George Pell deliberately fought the claims of one victim, John Ellis, to dissuade others from taking legal action.
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