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Rebekah Ison – AAP on September 1, 2016
The Catholic Church considered child fondling to be a “moral problem” rather than a criminal act when altar boys first came forward about a notorious Newcastle priest, the royal commission has heard.
A group of boys, who served at St Joseph’s at Merewether, told parents and teachers about sickening abuse suffered at the hands of Father Vincent Ryan in 1975.
But Ryan was allowed to continue serving in the ministry unrestricted for another two decades before being arrested.
Former Maitland-Newcastle Diocese Bishop Michael Malone said it used to be the case that priests who offended against anybody could go to confession and be “forgiven of his sins”.
“What about the touching of the genitals of a child? Was that seen as a moral problem or … a criminal act?” Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse chairman Peter McClellan asked on Thursday.
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