AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun
Matthew Connors, The Courier-Mail
BRISBANE’S Catholic Archbishop says the Church is a law unto itself and must change its culture but does not believe celibacy played a role in its shocking history of sexual abuse.
Appearing at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney yesterday, Archbishop Mark Coleridge said the Catholic Church needed to address issues that are “systemic and cultural”.
He said he was not naive enough to think all priests remained celibate but did not believe celibacy caused people to abuse children sexually.
Despite his very senior role in the Catholic Church in Australia, Archbishop Coleridge said he did not believe he could question a priest about his sex life unless allegations had been made publicly against him.
He said it would be up to someone such as a spiritual director to ask those questions if a priest was not functioning effectively.
“I have no right to ask those questions or, if I do, to expect an answer,” he said.
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