AUSTRALIA
The Canberra Times
Chris Vedelago
Why does the Catholic Church continue to prefer playing public relations games over keeping its promises to victims of paedophile priests?
For more than two years, sexual abuse victims and their families have been waiting for the release of an independent investigation into the controversial Melbourne Response compensation scheme.
This report, completed by retired Federal Court judge Donnell Ryan, was supposed to put to the test long-running concerns about the fairness of a system that attempts to put a dollar value on the suffering of hundreds of victims of sexual abuse.
The victims were encouraged to come forward and tell their stories again. That was in August 2014. The review was completed in September 2015. It has, inexplicably, sat on the Archbishop’s desk ever since.
On Friday, victims finally learnt that the church would not release the report. Nor the full list of its findings.
Despite the Archdiocese’s repeated promises that it would be made public, the report has been suppressed.
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