Catholic Online Forum

A senior serving police officer has challenged New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell to set up a Royal Commission into sex abuse in the Catholic Church, alleging the Church hierarchy covers up for paedophile priests, silences investigations, and destroys crucial evidence to avoid prosecutions.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox has spent more than 30 years as an investigator and has been at the centre of major police operations in the Newcastle-Hunter region of New South Wales.

He has written a letter to Mr O'Farrell, published in the Newcastle Herald, calling for a Royal Commission into child sex abuse within the Catholic Church.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard is coming under growing pressure to set up a national royal commission into allegations of child abuse within the Catholic Church.

The campaign has been fuelled by last week's explosive allegations by a senior New South Wales police investigator, who said the church had been involved in covering up evidence involving paedophile priests.

Much of the public discussion is about how the church dealt with cases 20 or so years ago. Critics talk as though earlier inadequacies are still prevalent. Major procedural changes in dealing with these matters have been implemented since 1996.

If there is evidence of deliberately concealing abuse in any cases, police should be informed, the evidence examined and prosecutions laid if required. It is unjust and inappropriate for officials or politicians to be suggesting that crimes are being - or have been - committed, without producing evidence; without asking those accused for their responses before making generalised slurs.

If there is evidence of specific malpractice, this should be referred to the police. It is unacceptable, because it is untrue, to claim that the Catholic church does not have proper procedures, and to claim that Catholic authorities refuse to co-operate with the police.

It is ludicrous to suggest I was involved in some cover-up in the Hunter region. I am not bishop of the area and have only visited there a few times. I have never approached any politician or police official to speak of problems there, much less have I intervened to thwart justice.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced the creation of a national royal commission into institutional responses to instances of child sexual abuse...

"The allegations that have come to light recently about child sexual abuse have been heartbreaking," Ms Gillard told reporters in Canberra.

"These are insidious, evil acts to which no child should be subject.

"Australians know... that too many children have suffered child abuse, but have also seen other adults let them down - they've not only had their trust betrayed by the abuser but other adults who could have acted to assist them have failed to do so.

"There have been too many revelations of adults who have averted their eyes from this evil.

"I believe in these circumstances that it's appropriate for there to be a national response through a royal commission."

Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal George Pell has welcomed the announcement of a royal commission, saying the church will cooperate fully.

"Public opinion remains unconvinced that the Catholic Church has dealt adequately with sexual abuse," he said in a statement.

"Ongoing and at times one-sided media coverage has deepened this uncertainty.

"This is one of the reasons for my support for this royal commission.

"I welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement. I believe the air should be cleared and the truth uncovered."

In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia. A Royal Commission is similar in function to a Commission of Enquiry (or Inquiry) found in other countries such as Ireland, South Africa, and Hong Kong.

A Royal Commissioner has considerable powers, generally greater even than those of a judge but restricted to the "Terms of Reference" of the Commission. The Commission is created by the Head of State (the Sovereign, or his/her representative in the form of a Governor-General or Governor) on the advice of the Government and formally appointed by Letters Patent. In practice—unlike lesser forms of inquiry—once a Commission has started the government cannot stop it. Consequently governments are usually very careful about framing the Terms of Reference and generally include in them a date by which the commission must finish.

Royal Commissions are called to look into matters of great importance and usual controversy. These can be matters such as government structure, the treatment of minorities, events of considerable public concern or economic questions.

Many Royal Commissions last many years and, often, a different government is left to respond to the findings. In Australia—and particularly New South Wales—Royal Commissions have been investigations into police and government corruption and organised crime using the very broad coercive powers of the Royal Commissioner to defeat the protective systems that powerful, but corrupt, public officials had used to shield themselves from conventional investigation.

Royal Commissions are usually chaired by one or more notable figures. Because of their quasi-judicial powers the Commissioners are often retired senior judges.

Royal Commissions usually involve research into an issue, consultations with experts both within and outside of government and public consultations as well. The Warrant may grant immense investigatory powers, including summoning witnesses under oath, offering of indemnities, seizing of documents and other evidence (sometimes including those normally protected, such as classified information), holding hearings in camera if necessary and—in a few cases—compelling all government officials to aid in the execution of the Commission.

Archbishop of Sydney George Pell has accused the press of a "persistent campaign" against the Catholic Church in the wake of Julia Gillard's decision to call a nationwide inquiry into institutionalised child abuse.

The royal commission into child sex abuse is likely to consider whether Catholic priests should be forced to tell police about crimes against children told to them in the confessional.

There are growing calls for priests to be subject to the same mandatory reporting rules that other professions are, despite church rules that the confessional should remain secret.

Federal Attorney-General Nicola Roxon says the idea that priests are not required to go to the police with information about child abuse is "abhorrent".

"Child sex abuse is a crime, it should be reported, and I know that the royal commission is going to have some very complex issues to deal with," Ms Roxon told ABC News 24.

"But I think we can't afford to say that that should not be on the table, because clearly that is a concern."

Australia's most senior Catholic, Sydney Archbishop George Pell, yesterday said the seal of confession was "inviolable", a position that has put him at odds with some senior MPs who are part of the church.

New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell, who is a Catholic, says he cannot fathom why priests should not be required to pass on evidence of child abuse to police.

"I think the law of the land when it comes to particularly mandatory reporting around issues to do with children should apply to everyone equally," Mr O'Farrell told AM.

"How can you possibly, by the continuation of this practice, potentially continue to give... a free pass to people who've engaged in the most heinous of acts?"

Federal Liberal frontbencher Christopher Pyne, who is also a Catholic, believes criminal law should take priority over church rules when it comes to child abuse.

"If a priest hears in a confessional a crime, especially a crime against a minor, the priest has the responsibility in my view to report that to the appropriate authorities," Mr Pyne told ABC News.

"In this case the police, because the church nor the priests should be above the law."

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has backed the idea, saying there are already various legal requirements on people if they become aware of sexual offences against children.

"The law is no respecter of persons - everyone has to obey the law, regardless of what job they're doing, regardless of what position they hold," Mr Abbott told reporters in Brisbane.

Asked if that included priests as well, Mr Abbott replied: "Indeed."

The judge who ran an inquiry into child abuse and neglect in Irish institutions says the Australian Government should not put an arbitrary time frame on its royal commission into child sexual abuse.

Ireland is the only other country to have launched a national child abuse inquiry similar to that announced on Monday by Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Yesterday, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference said that "talk of a systemic problem of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church is ill-founded and inconsistent with the facts" and Cardinal Pell echoed that sentiment today.

"The Catholic bishops of Australia have welcomed the royal commission which was announced by the Prime Minister last night," he said.

"We think it's an opportunity to help the victims, it's an opportunity to clear the air, to separate fact from fiction."

He said he had spoken to both Ms Gillard and to Opposition Leader Tony Abbott "over the last few days" but said he had not spoken to the Pope since the royal commission was announced.

"[Ms Gillard] just called me up to tell me what she was going to do," he said.

"She said this wasn't an anti-Catholic move, but more general, and I said I acknowledge that and I said I wasn't surprised that it wasn't anti-Catholic, and I was grateful for that."

Cardinal George Pell has made a court application to find out sensitive information about a sex abuse victim, before Australia's most senior Catholic gives evidence at Victoria's parliamentary inquiry into church abuse.

The ABC was the only media present in the hearing before Judge Roy Punshon in the Victorian County Court this morning.

Barrister Marcus Hoyne, acting for Cardinal Pell, said the matter was somewhat urgent, as his client might have to give evidence at the inquiry before the end of this month.

Mr Hoyne told the court Cardinal Pell was seeking evidence from the trial of convicted paedophile and former Christian brother Robert Best.

Judge Punshon told the court he was troubled by the application and it would have to be released on the basis it was being used for a particular purpose.

The ABC understands the evidence sought relates to a victim of Best's, whose lawyer has made a submission to the parliamentary inquiry that Cardinal Pell was present when the victim reported the abuse to a Catholic priest.

In a statement to the ABC, a spokeswoman for Cardinal Pell says he disputes the victim's claims and he was out of the country at the time.

THE idea that the confessional stays confidential even when people use it to admit to crimes is "medieval", an independent senator says, as senior Liberals call for the practice to be overturned.

Australia's most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, has insisted "the seal of confession is inviolable" even if a priest confesses to child sex abuse.
Cardinal Pell said on Tuesday priests should avoid hearing confession from colleagues suspected of committing child sex abuse to avoid being bound by the seal of confession.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon says that's an anachronism.

"This is a medieval law that needs to change in the 21st century," he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.

"Church law, canon law, should not be above the law of the land."

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young welcomed Mr Abbott's call for priests to break the secrecy of the confessional box when issues of child abuse were involved.

"This is really important to see people like Tony Abbott, (Labor MP) Bill Shorten ... coming out and saying you cannot protect people through the confession box," Ms Hanson-Young told reporters in Sydney.

"It is absolutely important and paramount for all leaders across states, territories, and in the federal parliament to understand that we need to be putting children's protections and rights first and foremost, and that no priest should be above the law."

Ms Hanson-Young said Cardinal Pell had shown he was "out of touch with the common day, commonsense thinking of Australians".

"It staggers me that there are still people in influential positions in this country who still believe that protecting a priest is more important that protecting a child," she said.

"I think that is something that does not fit with modern-day Australia."

CABINET Minister Bill Shorten said the royal commission on child sex abuse must address the controversial issue of whether priests should be legally compelled to report evidence of abuse they hear in the confessional.

Priestly ''privilege'' is likely to be hotly debated when the commission, announced by Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Monday, starts.

Mr Shorten, who strongly urges a general system of mandatory reporting, said: ''What immunity can you claim when it comes to the safety and protection of little children?

''When it comes to the abuse of children, that privilege, if it ever had validity, is well and truly exhausted.''

Mr Shorten said his own strong views had been influenced by the fact his family had for years attended the Sacred Heart parish in Oakleigh, served by notorious paedophile priest Kevin O'Donnell. He said thousands of Australians had been victims of sexual abuse, ''and too many haven't received a real apology, atonement or recompense''.

The senior lawyer who reviewed the Catholic Church's Towards Healing protocols says the church was still covering up sexual abuse as late as 2005.

Professor Patrick Parkinson was cited by Cardinal George Pell as the man who had reviewed the church's protocols on two occasions and had given them his tick of approval.

But Professor Parkinson has told Lateline he has withdrawn his support for the protocol because the church failed to take action over clergy who do not comply.

He alleges a church cover-up as late as 2005 put children at risk.

And he says the church behaviour alleged by New South Wales Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox and Victorian police amounts to "organised criminality".

Statement from the Archdiocese of Sydney

Katrina Lee, the director of Catholic Communications at the Archdiocese of Sydney, provided this response to Lateline:

Cardinal Pell met Professor Parkinson in recent months, and Professor Parkinson did not raise any concerns with him about the Archdiocese of Sydney's compliance with Towards Healing and the criminal law.

The Catholic community is grateful for the important work Professor Parkinson has done in reviewing and strengthening the Towards Healing procedures since they were established in 1996.

He has clearly shown that the Salesian order has some important questions to answer. If he is aware of any evidence of criminal non-compliance he needs to take it to the police.

Bishop Robinson said he would ask permission to refer allegations of abuse to police if a victim attended confession and described an assault.

"If the person won't go that far, then I would have to make a decision, and if I really thought that young people were at serious risk, then I would speak to the police," he said.

"I'd have to weigh a lot of things up - did I know the name of the alleged offender? Did I know the name of the alleged victim?

"If I didn't, if it's simply someone who comes into confessional who's not known to me, then obviously I can't tell the police that.

"I would be prepared to break the seal of confessional because you have to weigh up the greatest good, and here the greatest good is the protection of innocent people."

Bishop Robinson said the hands of Australian bishops were tied.

"Most of the changes that are needed must come from the Pope, and if he won't move, then the Australian bishops have their hands tied.

"The chances of getting the Pope to say that priests could break the seal of confessional are, well, nil."

...6 May 2008, 10 days before Robinson's scheduled public lecture at Temple University in Philadelphia—the first event in a month-long speaking tour in the United States and Canada—the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference issued a statement critical of aspects of Robinson's book, noting:

We are deeply indebted to him for his years of effort to bring help and healing to those who have suffered sexual abuse and for what he has done to establish protocols of professional standards for Church personnel in this area. . . . The book's questioning of the authority of the Church is connected to Bishop Robinson's uncertainty about the knowledge and authority of Christ himself. Catholics believe that the Church, founded by Christ, is endowed by him with a teaching office which endures through time. This is why the Church's Magisterium teaches the truth authoritatively in the name of Christ. The book casts doubt upon these teachings. This leads in turn to the questioning of Catholic teaching on, among other things, the nature of Tradition, the inspiration of the Holy Scripture, the infallibility of the Councils and the Pope, the authority of the Creeds, the nature of the ministerial priesthood and central elements of the Church's moral teaching

“God knows where the Seal of Confession came from – it's got nothing to do with the Bible."

Believe it or not, the following remark was made by a Catholic priest



"Melbourne priest and radio host Father Bob Maguire"

From last night's 7:30 Report:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-14/c ... ry/4372356

The clip is 6:50 in duration. The first 1:40 are worth watching.

...at least some of the media are trying to place Cardinal Pell directly in the firing line.

Royal commission to examine child abuse

From this week's Insiders program.



A montage

http://www.abc.net.au/insiders/content/ ... 635210.htm

...and a discussion from the panel

http://www.abc.net.au/insiders/content/ ... 635223.htm

We Catholics know that a priest cannot disclose the secret of the confessional, but the Protestants, the atheists, and the agnostics all say, 'Ridiculous! No man would remain silent and sacrifice his life for such a thing.'

Calls mount for New Zealand involvement in a top-level Australian inquiry into the widespread sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests and other authority figures.

A spokeswoman for Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the extension of the investigation to New Zealand would be a matter for the Royal Commission to consider once terms of reference were settled and the inquiry established.

The Greens say the public has not been given enough time to have a say about the terms of reference for the Commonwealth's Royal Commission into child sex abuse.

Stakeholders will have seven days to make submissions about what issues they think should be investigated by the Commission and how different governments should work together to share information.

Attorney-General Nicola Roxon has warned evidence relevant to the royal commission into child sex abuse must not be destroyed.

The inquiry was announced last week after the latest in a series of paedophilia allegations, most of which were directed at the Catholic Church.

But there have been claims some evidence about past cases has already been destroyed.

The Catholic Archbishop of Sydney has been accused of trying to do the job of the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child abuse, as he seeks access to court material.

The deadline for submissions into the royal commission's terms of reference passes today.

A submission from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference says the commission should focus on preventing future abuse, promoting healing for past victims and identifying systemic institutional failures.

The bishops are meeting this week to discuss the church's response to the royal commission and other matters.

The final terms of reference are expected to be ready by Christmas.

Multi-faith religious leaders across Sydney have defended the Seal of Confession following calls for mandatory reporting of those who would confess to sexually abusing children.

A Victorian County Court judge has granted the Archbishop of Sydney, George Pell, access to parts of the court material from the trial of convicted paedophile Christian Brother Robert Best...

His application was prompted by submissions to the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child sexual abuse, claiming he was present when a victim detailed Best's abuse to a priest in the 1960s.

Cardinal Pell maintains he was overseas at the time.

The Catholic Church has announced a national body to co-ordinate its response to the national royal commission into sexual abuse.

The Truth, Justice and Healing Council will be chaired by former Supreme Court judge Barry O'Keefe, QC.

The group will provide support and expertise to the commission.

Mr O'Keefe also defended the confessional saying it is protected legally by the Australian constitution.

''I believe that the confessional seal was absolute, until recently I never heard this seriously questioned, I think that's a red herring,'' he said.

The Federal Government says it will not finalise the terms of reference for the royal commission into child abuse until early next year.

ELIZABETH THE SECOND, by the Grace of God Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth:

TO

The Honourable Justice Peter David McClellan AM,
Mr Robert Atkinson,
The Honourable Justice Jennifer Ann Coate,
Mr Robert William Fitzgerald AM,
Dr Helen Mary Milroy, and
Mr Andrew James Marshall Murray

GREETING

New South Wales Supreme Court judge Peter McClellan has been appointed to lead the royal commission into child sexual abuse.

He will be supported by five other commissioners, including former Queensland police commissioner Bob Atkinson and former senator Andrew Murray, who have been asked to provide an interim report on progress by mid next year.

"I believe our nation needs to have this royal commission," Ms Gillard told reporters in Sydney.

"Child sexual abuse is a hideous, shocking and vile crime.

"It is clear from what is already in the public domain that too many children were the subject of child sexual abuse in institutions."

The Government says the inquiry will have "as long as it needs" to finish its investigation, although each of the commissioners will be appointed for an initial period of three years.

Its main focus will be to investigate systemic failures within church and state-run institutions in preventing and dealing with child abuse.

"Today is the day that we start to create a future where people who perpetrate child sexual abuse cannot hide in institutions, where we work together to find a better way of keeping our children safe," Ms Gillard said.

"The royal commission is into child sexual abuse and related matters in institutional contexts.

"It will not deal with child sexual abuse in the family. It also will not deal with abuse of children which is not associated with child sexual abuse."

The Catholic Church has written a letter to its parishioners urging them to redouble their prayers as it deals with the royal commission into child sex abuse.

The letter, which is signed by 15 New South Wales bishops including Cardinal George Pell, tells parishioners that the Catholic Church intends to cooperate fully with the upcoming royal commission.

Church spokesman Francis Sullivan says they are ready for whatever comes out of the investigation.

"All the truth must come out, and some of that truth will be painful and some of it will require us admitting that in the past there were cover-ups," he said.

The letter calls on the church's faithful to join in special days of penance in the wake of the abuse crisis and urges them to say extra prayers.

New South Wales police are facing fresh questions over whether they forged an unhealthy relationship with the Catholic Church in dealing with sexual abuse allegations against priests.

Lateline can reveal that for eight years to 2004, a senior police officer was an integral part of Towards Healing, the church's internal process for handling sexual abuse cases.

The state's former director of public prosecutions says that was a serious conflict of interest for police and should never have been approved.

In the mid-1990s, the Wood royal commission into police corruption was highlighting the need for greater child protection measures in the church.

As the level of disquiet grew about the church's handling of complaints, in 1996 it set up an expert panel known as the NSW Professional Standards Resource Group.

On that expert panel was a police officer from the sex crimes squad.

Nicholas Cowdery, the NSW director of public prosecutions from 1994 to 2011, questions why the church set up the resource group with a police officer involved.

"They have done that presumably so they can say publicly, 'what we have done is appropriate, we have brought in the interests of law enforcement and therefore you shouldn't be inquiring any further'," he said.

"The problem with that is that a police officer doesn't leave behind his or her oath of office until they retire, so when the police officer comes into this body that police officer brings that oath of office with him or her and is obliged to enforce the law and take any action appropriate in that regard.

A spokesman for NSW Police said it was not a police force position within that program.

"The officer advised the towards healing program on best practice system and process matters as part of her inter-agency liaison duties with the then Child Protection Enforcement Agency," the spokesman said.

"As a member of the board she was involved in the review of cases to ensure proper processes were being followed.

"The identities of the alleged victims and perpetrators were withheld from the board."

Mr Cowdery says the officer was prevented from exercising her powers and duties by the way in which the information was provided to her.

Lateline has spoken to individuals directly involved in towards healing who say the process was undertaken in good faith, with good intentions.

Michael Salmon, the director of the Catholic Church's NSW professional standards office, said in a statement:


"We have audited all the complaints that have come into the professional standards office pursuant to the Towards Healing protocol, to ensure that all matters involving complaints of sexual abuse of children and minors have been reported to the sex crimes squad of the NSW Police pursuant to our normal practice."

There are many channels for reporting abuse crimes to police, including by the bishop in every diocese.

The resources group was just one level of review the church established to tackle the issue of child protection.

But Mr Cowdery says with hindsight this process could be viewed as the church conscripting the police force into its own agenda.

NSW Police withdrew the officer's position from the resource group in 2005.

A support group for victims of child sexual abuse is calling for one of the six people on the royal commission to resign or be removed from the panel.

International Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, also known as SNAP, is concerned that commissioner Robert Fitzgerald may have a conflict of interest.

Victims are worried they will not be able to speak openly about their experiences in front of Mr Fitzgerald because of his 30-year association with the Catholic Church.

SNAP's Nicky Davis says he is too close to the church to be sitting on the royal commission.

"He sits in some very prominent positions in Catholic organisations," she said.

Dr Fitzgerald says he no longer has any associations with the Church besides being a Catholic.

I'll bite. Where is it found in the Bible?

The forgiveness, however, which the priest communicates does not absolve the penitent from
taking appropriate steps to remedy the grave harm he or she has perpetrated. If the penitent refuses to
take such steps or refuses to indicate that he or she intends to amend their lives in the relevant respect,
the priest may well refuse to grant absolution. In some circumstances, for instance in an unsolved
murder case, where some other person is liable to be wrongly convicted in place of the actual
perpetrator, the absolution will be conditional on the perpetrator surrendering to the appropriate
authorities or at least providing evidence of the innocence of the current suspect.

But in all instances, particularly where serious sins are involved and there is a social dimension
to the sin (in theft, for example), the priest would certainly be at pains to assess the sincerity of the
penitents and to impress on them the serious obligation to make restitution for the harm they have
inflicted. Unless there is this sincerity and willingness to accept responsibility, the absolution which
the priest communicates will be mere words. The sacrament will simply not be efficacious. Contrary
to popular belief in some quarters, confession is not a licence to continue sinning, nor does it deny or
excuse the harm that has been done. It requires that the harm be remedied and, in certain
circumstances, that the perpetrator be punished appropriately.

For instance, if one confesses to a theft, the priest will advise the penitent that he or she should
make full restitution to the owner and, at least in those circumstances that parallel the foregoing
murder case, own up to the theft. If he or she is a kleptomaniac he or she should be advised by the
priest to seek professional help. In similar circumstances, and certainly with a serial paedophile, I
would expect – but this is debated among moral theologians - that the priest would advise the penitent
to surrender to the secular authorities. He may even make this a condition of granting absolution.

Given the likelihood of continuing offending and the irreparable harm inflicted on their victims, this
may well seem to be the only way to prevent further offences. As I say, the Sacrament of Penance is
not only a matter of forgiving the penitent. It also involves reparation and prevention, especially where
there is a social or criminal dimension to the offence and the likelihood of reoffending is imminent.

Cynthia,

You might find this opinion interesting, it appeared in the Australian Jesuit journal Eureka Street