AUSTRALIA
ABC – PM
MARK COLVIN: In what’s believed to be an Australian first, the Catholic Church has defrocked a priest for having a “long term inappropriate sexual relationship” with a woman.
The Church has also publicly apologised to the woman involved.
The apology is the culmination of a seven-year legal battle that Jennifer Herrick, a parishioner, has waged against the Church over her “toxic” relationship with Father Thomas Knowles.
Her civil damages claim against the Church will be formally settled in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday.
And Ms Herrick hopes that her victory will inspire other women who have been exploited by priests to come forward.
Lorna Knowles reports.
LORNA KNOWLES: Jennifer Herrick was a shy 19 year old with hip dysplasia which caused her to walk with an abnormal gait when she first met her local priest, Father Thomas Knowles.
A few years later, he instigated a sexual relationship with her.
JENNIFER HERRICK: I wouldn’t want it to be interpreted in the sense of two people of equal standing in a mature heterosexual relationship because that’s not what it was.
LORNA KNOWLES: Miss Herrick says for 14 years Father Knowles repeatedly exploited her vulnerability as a disabled and sexually naive parishioner.
She says the sex was hurried and humiliating, often in public places or in his car.
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