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Archbishop admits 'spectacular bungling' of child abuse case
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of Sydney Morning Herald (One of Australia's leading newspapers)


Sydney Morning Herald (One of Australia's leading newspapers), December 11, 2013
Posted: December 17th, 2013
http://www.smh.com.au/national/archbishop-admits-spectacular...

The Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane [Australia] has admitted to spectacular bungling and drastic failure in dealing with a child sex abuse victim and flagged his willingness to revisit cases where victims needs have not been met. Archbishop Mark Coleridge said it was wrong that insurers and lawyers had determined how much victims were paid out. His archdiocese had $52 million from which he was prepared to draw for victim payouts. In the end, I [as archbishop] decide whether a sum conforms to the criteria of justice and compassion. In the strongest statements yet by a senior Australian Catholic Church official about the churchs mishandling of sex abuse claims, Archbishop Coleridge said a tsunami of child sexual abuse allegations had caught bishops and other officials like rabbits in a headlight. The failures of the Towards Healing protocol, in use since 1997, meant other ways of dealing with victim complaints needed to be explored if we are serious about coming to the aid of victims, the archbishop told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. He said powerful cultural factors had converged to create a perfect storm around child sex abuse in the church. One factor was the absurd lack of training in the past for would-be priests about human and sexual relationships: We have reaped the harvest of horror of that. The Brisbane archdiocese has had 99 cases of child sex abuse and nine current matters, with $2.5 million in payments made to victims.

Note: For more on sexual abuse scandals involving respected institutions, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources available here.


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