AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph
AAP
FORMER governor-general Peter Hollingworth has apologised to child victims of sexual abuse and admitted he failed to protect them when he was Anglican archbishop of Brisbane.
“I am extremely sorry that the church and I failed to protect you,” Dr Hollingworth told the child sex abuse royal commission on Friday.
The former Archbishop of Brisbane made the statement after taking the stand at the Brisbane hearing and said he deeply regretted he didn’t press harder to have complaints investigated more thoroughly.
Dr Hollingworth, who resigned as governor-general in 2003 over the church’s handling of the abuse allegations, conceded if he had exercised “stronger authority”, matters may well have been addressed more promptly and effectively.
“It’s clear to me now that we did not do enough to help you, and actions of the diocese and the school compounded your distress and suffering,” he said in reference to St Paul’s, one of the schools examined by the inquiry.
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