AUSTRALIA
ABC News
By Riley Stuart
An expert witness received loud applause as he savaged the Catholic Church for sacrificing the welfare of children at an emotional royal commission hearing today.
Dr Thomas Doyle, a United States canon lawyer and expert in areas of sexual abuse by clergy, has been giving evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney.
He claimed Pope John Paul II knew children were being sexually abused by priests and the Catholic Church attempted to cover up allegations.
Dr Doyle said victims and their families were coerced into keeping quiet about the abuse, even threatened with ex-communication.
“In the theology that I believe in there’s no office in the Catholic Church or anywhere else is so important that it justifies sacrificing the welfare of one innocent child. Period,” he said.
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