AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald
Joanne McCarthy
8 Jun 2017
IT was bad timing for St Stanislaus College at Bathurst in February, when one of its most notorious teacher/priests, Brian Spillane, was sentenced for terrible sex crimes against students only days before the college marked its 150th anniversary.
In a statement after the sentencing the college acknowledged it was “deeply sorry” for what Spillane’s victims experienced at the Vincentian school.
“The abuse they experienced was a failure by this staff member to fulfil the college mission of proclaiming the Gospel in the spirit of St Vincent de Paul and to open them to God’s loving presence in their lives,” the statement said.
No, actually, I’ll take issue with that.
Spillane didn’t just stuff up on theology. He was a predator who committed crimes, including what used to be called buggery, against boys. That’s why he’s in jail. If he’d just failed to proclaim the Gospel he could have had a few sessions with the Bible. If he’d just sinned – say, lied about saying his prayers that morning – he could have confessed.
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