AUSTRALIA
ABC News
By the National Reporting Team’s Lorna Knowles and Alison Branley
One of Australia’s oldest Catholic boarding schools is under fire for turning an apology to victims of child sexual abuse into a religious service.
At least 160 students of St Stanislaus College in Bathurst were abused by paedophile priests and staff over three decades, between the 1970s and 1990s.
The school plans to host an “Apology Service of Sorrow and Hope” tomorrow night but victims say asking them to attend the school – where the abuse happened – and incorporating the apology into a religious service would trigger painful memories.
The head of the school, Dr Anne Wenham, said the event was intended as a genuine commitment to say sorry to victims.
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