Hi simmo; I know many of those in Ballarat who suffered, and many who died suffering.
There are some good local groups working hard to support victims, and some of them were victims themselves or are related to victims… The hope is that now Pell has been charged that more will find the strength to come forward.
I was not abused but saw some very bad things around physical abuse. I asked my Parents what they knew of happenings in the 1960’s, and my Dad said that if he had of known anything he would have killed; my Mum was very quiet on the matter and we always thought she knew, but was too pious to talk.
Lets all hope that victims can get some closure and peace; and a shiteload catholic money as compensation.
Well TripEss; I think it does make them bad people and very guilty, and it is my belief they knew it was real. I have asked too many priests and seen their reaction… It is nonsense to suggest it was a different time. as rooting kids up the bum has always been very very wrong.
Especially as the teaching of the Catholic Church as about caring and supporting all. Same goes for all religions.
You might not think it but your attitude is making excuses for the evil acts; and while I think you probably feel as sick as the rest of us about it all,
Trip, I understand and agree with your point about due process, but I think your point about not going on hunches falls short. If you have a hunch that a priest entrusted with the care and supervision of vulnerable children is committing sex abuse offences and you are in a position of influence, then you need to start asking questions and making sure it either isn’t happening, or stops happening. That’s how you then get to the point of conclusive proof. Failure to do so leads to the accusations of turning a blind eye, or even worse, enabling it by being part of the process that simply moved offenders on to new locations where the same cycle was allowed to continue.
The Holy See on Thursday said it learnt of the charges “with regret” but respected the Australian justice system.
“At the same time, it is important to recall that Cardinal Pell has openly and repeatedly condemned as immoral and intolerable the acts of abuse committed against minors,” it said.
The point at which he definitely comes unstuck is the fact that he didn’t find child abuse “intolerable”, doesn’t really match up with, “it wasn’t of much interest to me” or his version of “civic responsibility”.
Being a priest and finding something intolerable should mean you have the moral fortitude to act to make sure those who are guilty are made accountable and cannot perform the crime again. At best he wasn’t really interested (which to my mind is intolerable), at worst … hopefully the courts can get a chance to determine that part.
Confused on his role? How about this - when the heat was getting a bit too much on his mate Gerard Ridsdale, instead of acting on the numerous allegations, he arranged to have him transferred to another church in Mortlake and later (when he was still acting up) to somewhere in Sydney.
Pell is one of many. It’s a shame Ronald Mulkearns died when he did otherwise he’d have the most to answer for. The Royal Commission found that there have been allegations against about 10% of all priests who served in Ballarat since 1950. If Pell gets done, many will follow.