Newcastle Herald Letters to the Editor

NEW LAMBTON (AUSTRALIA)
The Newcastle Herald

January 5, 2018

I CONFESS that I have never had much time for canon lawyers. Father Tom Doyle shows that once a canon lawyer always a canon lawyer (‘Cleric urges government to be bold’, Newcastle Herald, 4/1).

Making tax concessions contingent on the Catholic Church classifying child sexual abuse as a crime in canon law does not achieve much in terms of changing hearts or helping survivors. Classifying child sexual abuse as a crime is no substitute for empathy and nor does it guarantee moral integrity.

Child sexual abuse is evil because it is enabled by a lack of empathy. The survivors want to make sure that what they endured is not inflicted upon another.

The best way to prevent further abuse and to show empathy is to remove the perpetrator from the office of ministry that made the abuse possible.

If Rome remains ambivalent or tardy about such removal then we need local leaders prepared to make a stand on what should be non-negotiable.

Mark Porter, New Lambton

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