AUSTRALIA
Hepburn Advocate
Melissa Cunningham
@MeljCunningham
21 Feb 2017
Regional areas were a “breeding ground” for emotionally immature Catholic clergy who easily entrenched themselves in communities and went onto sexually abuse children undetected, an inquiry heard.
In a frank admissions to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn, Christopher Prowse said on Tuesday an “extraordinary level of trust” was invested in priests in country communities.
When asked by Counsel Assisting the Royal Commission Gail Furness SC why regional areas were epicentres of clergy sexual abuse, Archbishop Prowse, who was bishop of Sale between 2009 and 2013, said clergy were often held in the highest esteem.
“It was a breeding ground for immature and disconnected priests to be able to move into that area, perhaps, more so numerically than in a bigger city where getting to know the priest is not as easy,” he said.
“(They) were able to really become part of the family in a way that wouldn’t have been so in a bigger city.”
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