AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au
By Genevieve Gannon and Daniel Fogarty
From: AAP
May 28, 2013
THE Catholic Church should not be allowed to investigate allegations of child sex abuse committed within its own ranks, advocates say.
They want the church’s internal abuse response processes replaced by a government body and say legal options for victims should be strengthened.
Australia’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, argues the church’s Melbourne Response, which he set up while archbishop of Melbourne to deal with clergy abuse claims in the archdiocese, has been sufficient.
“I’m more than happy with what we did at that time,” he told the final hearing day for Victoria’s parliamentary inquiry into child abuse on Monday.
“I felt it was a sufficient response to the problem at that time and it bore very significant fruit.”
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