NEWS PIECES ♦ News Archive 1
High court to rule on Catholic church’s liability for abuse committed by paedophile priests
Church has been granted special leave to appeal Victorian judgment that found Ballarat diocese was vicariously liable for abuse of child
The Catholic church has won the right to challenge in the high court a landmark Victorian ruling forcing the church to take on greater liability for the actions of paedophile priests within its ranks.
In the past two years, the Victorian courts have delivered and upheld an unprecedented ruling that the Ballarat diocese was vicariously liable for the abuse of a five-year-old child known as DP at the hands of assistant priest Father Bryan Coffey.
Vicarious liability is typically used to hold employers responsible for the wrongful or negligent actions of their employees during the course of their employment – even where there is no fault on the part of the employer.
The church, however, has long argued that priests like Coffey were not formal employees, allowing it to dodge claims of vicarious liability. ♦ more... www.theguardian.com
A friend of mine is dying
A friend of mine who suffered physical and emotional abuse at Burke Hall
in the late 1950's is in hospice care with maybe four or five weeks to live.In my opinion, and his wife agrees, he suffered strong fear, anxiety and PTSD for his whole life.
This adversly affected his relationships and working life.
He has previously thought about asking for some compensation from the Society of Jesus but was unable to find the strength.
The family has no money to speak of and he is worried about his wife and son after he dies.
There were and are many like him who we never hear about, they just disappear.
The Invisible Victims.
Theo Overberg SJ to be sentenced for indecent assault
At Local Court Parramatta October 30, 2023
At Local Court Parramatta October 30, 2023
Overberg was found guilty of 3 counts of inecent assault at St. Ignatius College,Riverview, Sydney.
more in legal proceedings page.
WA parliamentary inquiry to scrutinise alleged stalling tactics by institutions in child sex abuse compensation claims
June 23, 2023The often drawn out and re-traumatising experiences of child sexual abuse survivors as they seek compensation is set to come under intense public scrutiny.
Key points:
There are claims institutions are intentionally drawing out the legal process
Child sex abuse survivors are describing the process as "adversarial and traumatic"
A new parliamentary committee will investigate the claims
Described variously as a "war of attrition" and an attempt to "break you down", survivors have spoken of unnecessarily
long delays in legal proceedings and unreasonable demands for information.
Liberal MP David Honey is stark in the language he uses.
"Concerns have been expressed that perhaps some of the respondents in these cases, are deliberately slowing down the
passage of the cases in the hope that the victims will die," he said.
Dr Honey has been appointed chair of a new WA parliamentary committee tasked with scrutinising the legal tactics used by some state,
religious or other institutions in compensation claims by survivors of child sexual abuse.
The Community Development and Justice Standing Committee will also look at the response of government and non-government
institutions to those claims and how efficiently courts deal with those cases.
John Rule, abuse principal lawyer at Maurice Blackburn lawyers, said some defendants sought irrelevant and excessive documentation and records from survivors as a tactic to drag out proceedings.
"It's a way for them to put pressure on plaintiffs. And it's a little bit of a war of attrition. That's not all defendants. But some, it seems to us, are behaving in that way," Mr Rule said.
Mr Rule said permanent stays were regularly used by defendants to try and dismiss proceedings.
♦ www.abc.net.au
Papal commission seeks public input on safeguarding principles
June 23, 2023 Emphasizing the responsibility of all Catholics to ensure the church is a safe place, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors is inviting public comment on a proposed set of principles that church bodies around the world must reflect in their safeguarding guidelines.
Distribution of the draft "Universal Guidelines Framework" was approved by members of the commission at their meeting in May; the framework begins by calling church leaders to "acknowledge and take ownership of their moral, pastoral and governance responsibilities to work for the creation of a 'one church approach' to safeguarding."
The framework was sent to the world's bishops' conferences, the heads of religious orders and survivors of abuse for review.
But on June 23, the commission also launched a period of public comment, inviting anyone interested to use a survey ♦ www.tutelaminorum.org
on the commission's website.
Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley of Boston, commission president, explained in May that the universal framework is meant to update the principles that informed the circular letter by the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2011, which requires bishops' conferences to draft guidelines for dealing with allegations of clerical sexual abuse.
♦ www.ncronline.org
comment:
Slight problem here.
You can see the survey and read the questions but you can't read the document.
"public" means a few chosen survivors, who are they?
It is definitely not "public" comment.
You can see the survey and read the questions but you can't read the document.
"public" means a few chosen survivors, who are they?
It is definitely not "public" comment.
German Catholic church ‘dying painful death’ as 520,000 leave in a year
(note: The German church gives the Vatican about $4 billion a year) June 30, 2023
Speed of departures has been driven by series of child abuse scandals and accusations of a cover-up
The Catholic church in Germany has revealed it is losing followers like never before, with more than half a million people deciding to renounce their membership last year.
According to the Bonn-based German Bishops’ Conference, 522,821 people left the church in 2022, a number far surpassing predictions made by the institution itself and higher than most observers had expected. The previous record year for departures was in 2021, when just under 360,000 people left.
Thomas Schüller, a canon lawyer, said the church would struggle to recover from the fallout. “The Catholic church is dying a painful death in full view of the public,” he told German media.
The church has 21 million members, according to 2022 figures, amounting to 24.8% of the population.
The speed of the departures, driven by a series of child abuse scandals and accusations of a widespread cover-up, has shocked clerics.
All Germans who declare an affiliation to the Protestant, Catholic and Jewish denominations are officially registered as such with their local authorities. They are liable to pay the Kirchensteuer or Kultursteuer (church tax or cultural tax), which amounts to between 8% and 9% of a person’s income tax and is drawn from their monthly income by the tax office, which passes it on to the appropriate denomination.
The church tax was first enshrined in German law in 1919 and reaffairmed in the Reichskoncordat between Nazi Germany and the Vatican in 1933. It was reaffirmed in law again in 1949.
Neighbouring Austria introduced a compulsory tax for Catholics in 1939 after the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany the previous year, and has retained it since, in what is explained as an effort to keep churches independent of political influence.
♦ www.theguardian.com
Victorian government announces a Board of Inquiry into Beaumaris Primary School
June 28, 2023 Glen Fearnett joined Beaumaris Primary School in 1971, as a knock-kneed grade 4 kid.
By his first school camp, Fearnett had been sexually abused by one of a number of teachers who preyed on students, operating at the school with seeming impunity in the 1960s and ’70s.
He thought he was the only one. It took him 50 years – until other survivors began to come forward – to realise there were dozens of other victims who had suffered like he had. Fearnett believes at least 50 other children were sexually abused during the ’60s and ’70s at Beaumaris Primary School, and perhaps as many as 100 children.
On Wednesday the Victorian government joined that chorus, announcing a Board of Inquiry into what Premier Daniel Andrews described as “vile, evil and incredibly damaging abuse” at the school in Melbourne’s south-east.
Andrews said the investigation would acknowledge the “unique and evil goings-on” perpetrated in the past by at least three teachers at the school. It will also examine abuse by the same employees at other government schools.
He said the terms of reference for the inquiry would not prohibit the inquiry going further, including examining sexual abuse at other schools.
“If evidence takes the inquiry there, then that’s where inquiry will go,” Andrews said.
♦ more.... www.theage.com.au
Victorian court upholds ruling finding Catholic church liable for sexual abuse by paedophile priest
April 04, 2023 Landmark decision expected to help countless other survivors achieve more compensation for abuse suffered from clergy
Victoria’s highest court has ruled that the Catholic church is vicariously liable for sexual abuse by a paedophile priest
because he was a “servant of the diocese” whose role gave him the “power and intimacy” to access and abuse children.
The decision by the Victorian court of appeal on Monday upholds the original landmark ruling, which, for the first time in Australia,
found the church is vicariously liable for the abuse of its priests.
The decision is expected to help countless other survivors achieve more significant compensation for the abuse they suffered at the hands of paedophile clergy.
The critical issue in the case was whether the diocese and the current Bishop, Paul Bird, could be held liable for Coffey’s actions,
despite the assistant priest not being a formal employee of the church.
DP’s lawyers, Ken Cush and Associates, successfully convinced the Victorian supreme court in late 2021 that,
despite the lack of formal employment, the diocese was “all powerful in the management of clergy within a diocese” and that
activities of an assistant parish priest were under the “direct control” of the priest, who reported to the bishop.
That left the church vicariously liable for Coffey’s abuse, the court found.
The church appealed against the decision. On Monday, however, the court of appeal upheld the previous ruling of vicarious liability.
♦ more... www.theguardian.com
comment:
It has been until now generally accepted in law that the employer is vicariously liable for the tortious actions of an employee.
The catholic church has always argued that a priest is not an employee therefore thay are not liable.
The above decision destroys that defence in certain circumstances.
"Torts committed in the course of an employee’s employment will be attributable to the employer.
The question of whether or not abuse was committed in the course of one’s employment is not concerned with the fault of the employer.
The courts have struggled to identify a coherent basis for identifying when and in what circumstances an employer should be vicariously liable for sexual abuse.
The High Court in Prince Alfred College provided a unified approach; however, it did not define the precise boundaries of when sexual abuse will be regarded as having occurred in the course of employment.
This question still requires a case-by-case analysis and it is still a speculative exercise which depends on a detailed understanding of the evidence."
♦ 2017 THE LAW ON VICARIOUS LIABILITY RECENT DEVELOPMENTS classic.austlii.edu.au
"DP", who was abused by Father Bryan Coffey at his parent’s home in Port Fairy during pastoral visits in 1971.
The courts accepted that Coffey's actions were done in a sense "in the course of his employment", even though he was not formally employed in the legal sense.
A pastoral visit being something that was a part of his duties.
It has been until now generally accepted in law that the employer is vicariously liable for the tortious actions of an employee.
The catholic church has always argued that a priest is not an employee therefore thay are not liable.
The above decision destroys that defence in certain circumstances.
"Torts committed in the course of an employee’s employment will be attributable to the employer.
The question of whether or not abuse was committed in the course of one’s employment is not concerned with the fault of the employer.
The courts have struggled to identify a coherent basis for identifying when and in what circumstances an employer should be vicariously liable for sexual abuse.
The High Court in Prince Alfred College provided a unified approach; however, it did not define the precise boundaries of when sexual abuse will be regarded as having occurred in the course of employment.
This question still requires a case-by-case analysis and it is still a speculative exercise which depends on a detailed understanding of the evidence."
♦ 2017 THE LAW ON VICARIOUS LIABILITY RECENT DEVELOPMENTS classic.austlii.edu.au
"DP", who was abused by Father Bryan Coffey at his parent’s home in Port Fairy during pastoral visits in 1971.
The courts accepted that Coffey's actions were done in a sense "in the course of his employment", even though he was not formally employed in the legal sense.
A pastoral visit being something that was a part of his duties.
Catholic Church fails to overturn $1.9m payout to victim of paedophile priest
The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne has been dealt a blow in the Court of Appeal, which refused the church’s bid to overturn a $1.9 million damages payout to a victim of paedophile priest Desmond Gannon.
The former altar boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is the first and only victim of clerical abuse to take their case against the archdiocese to trial and receive damages.
However, the archdiocese’s legal team had argued the general damages awarded by Supreme Court judge Andrew Keogh in July last year were “manifestly excessive” and sought to have them reduced.
The archdiocese claimed in court that some of the victim’s injuries were caused by an unstable upbringing, his parents’
separation and a culture of drinking among his peers, while also attacking the credibility of his evidence as “untruthful, lacking reliability and exaggerated”.
The decision by the Court of Appeal to deny leave for appeal will intensify financial pressure on the Melbourne archdiocese after the
sudden closure of the church’s private insurer this week and a wave of fresh claims from victims.
♦ more.... www.theage.com.au
Archbishop claims $1.9m abuse payout to altar boy was excessive
(our good friend, Old Xaverian Jack Rush KC, seems to have become the go-to man for the catholic church)March 15, 2023
Melbourne’s Catholic archbishop has asked a court to reduce a former altar boy’s almost $2 million sexual abuse payout as some
injuries were caused outside of a paedophile priest’s horrific assaults.
Archbishop Peter Comensoli has launched an appeal of a Supreme Court judge’s decision to award $1.9 million in damages
to one of former priest Desmond Gannon’s victims, after he and the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne were found to be vicariously liable for the abuse.
Justice Andrew Keogh found Gannon’s abuse was “horrific” and involved “a physically painful and abhorrent assault on a
young child by an adult in a position of almost absolute power and authority”.
He ordered $1,908,647 be paid to the victim, including $1.5 million for economic loss, $525,000 for general damages and $15,000 for future treatment expenses,
and minus $131,353 already paid to him through the church’s Melbourne Response scheme to handle sex abuse claims.
“We are not here to submit that the effects of that abuse are not profound, and that the impact on the respondent has not been destructive,
or indeed, that the impact has not and is not lifelong,” barrister John Rush, KC, told the court.
“But we obviously do contend that the award of $525,000 for pain and suffering was manifestly excessive.”
He claimed some of the man’s psychological, physical and economic injuries were caused by an unstable upbringing,
including moving houses as a child, his parents’ separation and a culture of drinking with his peers.
♦ more.... www.theage.com.au
‘It crucifies you every time’: the ‘crushing’ new tactic the church uses to block claims by abuse survivors
March 22, 2023Strategy used to deny compensation is a ‘stark example’ of Catholic clergy prioritising the advice of lawyers over moral leadership
Craig Waters
In the small workshop behind his home in the Victorian country town of Broadford, Craig Waters was huddled on the floor, rocking back and forth. He’d been back there for hours, crying and alone, trapped anew in childhood nightmares.
Waters was trying to process what the Catholic church had just told him: it was threatening to thwart his attempt to receive justice for the horrors he says he experienced as an eight-year-old boy at St Brendan’s Catholic primary school in western Sydney.
There, a Catholic nun he dubs “the witch” would take him away from his friends at lunchtime, lead him to a small dark room off the main assembly hall and shut the door.
“I remember always dreading the moment that she turned around and looked at me, as that was when she seemed to be at least 10 foot tall, her eyes looked like they were black holes in her face,” he later said in a witness statement seen by Guardian Australia.
“The witch” administered what were described as “evil lessons”. He was a boy, the nun said, which meant he had an evil thing in his pants.
It was the mark of the devil, the cause of his evil ways, and must be dealt with, she told him.
The sexual abuse Waters alleges he suffered repeatedly in that room sent him spiralling into teenage homelessness and drugs, shattered his relationship with a disbelieving, devoutly Catholic mother and led to long-term psychiatric harm.
The abuse only stopped when another nun stumbled into the room. “The witch”, Waters later found out, was subsequently moved and promoted to a deputy principal position.
It took half a century for Waters, with his family’s support, to confront his past and sue the church, seeking an apology and acknowledgment of the harm done to him.
The church, he says, responded with unexpected aggression. It informed his lawyers at Maurice Blackburn that it would try to prevent a court from even considering his allegations at trial:
it would use the death of Waters’ abuser, Sister Agnes Francis, to claim it could no longer have a fair trial.
The same church that engineered a decades-long cover-up of industrial-scale clergy abuse was now effectively telling Waters that his delay in coming forward had left it in an unfair position.
Waters and his lawyers stared the church’s threat down. His legal team were eventually able to secure him a confidential settlement. But a Guardian Australia investigation has revealed that Waters’ treatment is far from isolated.
A pattern of delay and denial
In interviews with 13 lawyers working on separate abuse cases, analysis of court records and in discussions with survivors and their advocates,
the Guardian has found that the church is now routinely using the deaths of clergy to either have survivors’ claims thrown out or to force them to accept paltry settlement amounts.
The approach has prompted a damning intervention from Francis Sullivan, who once led the Catholic response to the child abuse royal commission.
He describes it as “another layer of abuse” for survivors and a “stark example” of the church again prioritising the advice of lawyers and insurance companies over any sense of moral leadership.
“The royal commission very bluntly said the church leaders failed in their leadership, their moral leadership,
and it was a damning finding,” Sullivan, the former chief executive of the Catholic church’s truth, justice and healing council, tells Guardian Australia.
“And I said it all along that church leaders – whether they’re religious orders, or whether they were bishops –
did not exercise their moral leadership, but too often just took the advice of lawyers and insurance companies,
whose job is to tell them what the law states, not what the moral law says.
“This is another stark example.”
An analysis of court records suggest there are 13 cases where the church or other institutions, mostly the Marists and the Christian Brothers, are seeking or threatening permanent stays in abuse cases.
Ross Koffel, the managing principal of Koffels Solicitors and Barristers, has been representing abuse survivors for 13 years. He is unable to speak about specific cases, including Peters’, whom his firm is representing, but says the same tactic is now being employed right across the country.
It is also being used as a threat to lowball survivors in settlement negotiations, he says.
“It’s on everyone’s lips all over Australia,” Koffel tells Guardian Australia. “Everyone is aware of it. So it’s used either as a threat or to try to reduce the amount of the quantum of the damages, to say, ‘Now listen here, if you don’t accept this sort of money, then we will put on a stay application.’”
The impact on survivors, he says, is tragic.
Opening the floodgates: the GLJ decision
The church’s approach in such cases relies heavily on a key decision made by NSW’s highest court last year.
That decision ruled that the death of the Lismore priest Father Clarence Anderson left the diocese unable to fairly
defend itself against the allegations of a woman known as GLJ, who alleges that she was abused as a 14-year-old girl in 1968.
GLJ’s lawyers, Ken Cush & Associates, are appealing against the decision to the high court. They are arguing, among other things,
that the decision conflicts with significant reforms to remove time limits for abuse claims enacted after the royal commission across all states and territories.
♦ full story www.theguardian.com
Hans Zollner SJ resigns from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors
March 31, 2023Zollner put out his own communique blasting the group for alleged shortcomings in “responsibility, compliance, accountability and transparency.”
Widely regarded as perhaps the Catholic Church’s leading expert on anti-abuse efforts, Zollner has been a member of the pontifical commission since its inception by Pope Francis in 2014.
In his version of events yesterday, Zollner said he felt compelled to abandon the commission because of mounting frustrations over several issues:
“A lack of clarity regarding the selection process of members and staff and their respective roles and responsibilities.”
“Financial accountability, which I believe is inadequate.”
“Transparency on how decisions are taken in the commission. Too often, there was insufficient information and vague communication with members on how particular decisions were taken.”
“Regulations that govern the relationship between the commission and the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith.”
(Last June, Pope Francis placed the commission within the doctrinal office, raising questions about its independence.)
♦ more.... cruxnow.com
A disappointing 10 years of Pope Francis on abuse
March 31, 2023Pope Francis himself, in a carefully choreographed new video released earlier this month (March 2),
talks tough about abuse, as though he is someone outside the church looking in.
But he is, of course, the ultimate church "insider," the man at the top of a very clear and rigid hierarchy, the one person who has the most power
— indeed, nearly limitless power — to prevent abuse, expose wrongdoers, release records, rebuild trust and help victims heal.
But he refuses to do so. Instead he repeatedly just pontificates (excuse the pun) about the crisis, often in eloquent,
even heart-wrenching ways, without following through with concrete, effective reforms.
But consider what Francis could do and hasn't. And imagine the shock waves that would reverberate through the entire church hierarchy — and the cover-ups that would be deterred — if he acted boldly:
He could levy the harshest penalty, excommunication, against a dozen or more of the most egregious abuse enabling church officials. (He's done this to no enablers, or predators for that matter.)
He could insist that every diocese and religious order turn over every record they have about suspected and known abusers to law enforcement.
Francis could order every prelate on the planet to post on his diocesan website the names of every proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting cleric. (Imagine how much safer children would be if police, prosecutors, parents and the public knew the identities of these potentially dangerous men.)
♦ more... www.ncronline.org
'Sorry' is not enough: Abuse victims need answers, support, pope says
March 03, 2023 
Pope Francis and four French bishops make the sign of the cross during silent prayer for the victims of abuses committed by members of the clergy, prior to the pope's general audience at the Vatican Oct. 6, 2021.
It is not enough to ask people who have suffered abuse for their forgiveness, Pope Francis said.
They also must be offered "concrete actions to repair the horrors they have suffered and to prevent them from happening again" as well as the truth, transparency, safe spaces, psychological support and protection , the pope said in a video message released by the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network March 2.
"The church must serve as a model to help solve the issue and bring it to light in society and in families," he said.
♦ more... www.ncronline.org
Words do come easy
Pope Frank does it again. Words, words, words and not delivering.
If he truly meant what he says about truth and transparency he would open the vatican's sex abuse archives and commission a complete report on all allegations, details of investigations, the results and conclusions and punishments.
And he would instruct all archdioceses and religious orders worldwide to do the same. A genuine mea maxima culpa as they ask of the faithful.
But keeping what they know secret is still the modus operandi (with very few exceptions).
Even when required by law to disclose what they know they obfuscate and withhold.
For example, the Society of Jesus Australia will not supply to my lawyers the full documents they hold in relation to the alleged sex abusers, as they are required to do by the supreme court of Victoria.
This is called "discovery", we tell them everything we have and they tell us everything they have.
They will not disclose the details or conclusions of their own investigation, which they say they do for all sex abuse allegations.
Tony Hargreaves lawyers know the law and know their duties, so they are either deliberately withholding documents or being misled by their client, the Society of Jesus.
I am told by my lawyers that this is normal practice by defendants.
The lawyers then have to go through the time consuming process of getting the court to order the production of the documents.
The supreme court is partly to blame in my opinion. They should slap big fines on discovery non-compliance so defendants won't do it.
Likewise, Victorian police have not supplied the details and full notes of their investigation of a living accused jesuit priest.
The only reason for this is to protect the accused priests and weaken the complainant's case.
Though possibly the police are withholding because it would show that their "investigation" was very perfunctory even though it took two years to get the conclusion not to prosecute.
The police executed a search warrant I was told. What they searched they won't tell.
The detective in charge would not answer the question "did you search the jesuit archives at Campion House?".
"The path to justice is as narrow and as sharp as a razor's edge"
(apologies to Somerset Maugham)
If he truly meant what he says about truth and transparency he would open the vatican's sex abuse archives and commission a complete report on all allegations, details of investigations, the results and conclusions and punishments.
And he would instruct all archdioceses and religious orders worldwide to do the same. A genuine mea maxima culpa as they ask of the faithful.
But keeping what they know secret is still the modus operandi (with very few exceptions).
Even when required by law to disclose what they know they obfuscate and withhold.
For example, the Society of Jesus Australia will not supply to my lawyers the full documents they hold in relation to the alleged sex abusers, as they are required to do by the supreme court of Victoria.
This is called "discovery", we tell them everything we have and they tell us everything they have.
They will not disclose the details or conclusions of their own investigation, which they say they do for all sex abuse allegations.
Tony Hargreaves lawyers know the law and know their duties, so they are either deliberately withholding documents or being misled by their client, the Society of Jesus.
I am told by my lawyers that this is normal practice by defendants.
The lawyers then have to go through the time consuming process of getting the court to order the production of the documents.
The supreme court is partly to blame in my opinion. They should slap big fines on discovery non-compliance so defendants won't do it.
Likewise, Victorian police have not supplied the details and full notes of their investigation of a living accused jesuit priest.
The only reason for this is to protect the accused priests and weaken the complainant's case.
Though possibly the police are withholding because it would show that their "investigation" was very perfunctory even though it took two years to get the conclusion not to prosecute.
The police executed a search warrant I was told. What they searched they won't tell.
The detective in charge would not answer the question "did you search the jesuit archives at Campion House?".
"The path to justice is as narrow and as sharp as a razor's edge"
(apologies to Somerset Maugham)
Hans Zollner SJ visits Australia
Hans Zollner SJ is the director of the Institute of Anthropology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors
Father Zollner concluded his 10-day trip to Australia on Saturday 4 February, 2023.
With his time split across Melbourne and Sydney, Father Zollner has planned meetings with:
• Julie Inman Grant, e-Safety Commissioner
• Lianna Buchanan, Victorian Commissioner for Children & Young People
• Chiara Porro, Australian Ambassador to the Holy See
• Steve Kinmond OAM, Children’s Guardian – NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian
• Professor Daryl Higgins, Director of the Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University
• Additional support and survival advocacy group.
(Feb. 03, 2023 from press release from reputation management company senateshj
♦ Hans_Zollner_SJ_230204_Statement_during_his_visit_to_Australia.pdf)
It is not known who or what is the "Additional support and survival advocacy group".
Fr Hans Zollner: Australians have lost trust in the local Church following sexual abuse scandals
Sept. 07, 2017Father Hans Zollner, has singled out Australia as a country where “people have lost trust completely” in the Church.
“There seems to be almost nil trust in what the Church says,”
“This is not true in other parts of the world. I think you are in a pretty unique situation.”
“We need to clean up our own courtyard, and we need to be responsible for what has happened and what is happening at this moment,” Fr Zollner said.
♦ catholicleader.com.au
Low key Hans Zollner SJ visit
Feb. 21. 2023
Fr Hans Zollner SJ (back row, far right), meeting with Australian Provincial, Fr Quyen Vu SJ (front row, 4th from left) and other JCAP delegates at the Safety in Ministry network meeting at St Peter Canisius House in Pymble, NSW.
Zollner said:
"We need to listen to the voices of survivors and victims of abuse.
That is of course a starting point for all our activities in safeguarding.
We have set out to address this after the decades in which the news about the Catholic Church and sexual abuse has been out there.
The response has been very inconsistent, especially when looking into the survivors’ community and their expectations.”
And there he is standing with Australian jesuit provincial Quyen Vu SJ who has only ever spoken to one survivor we know of,
who does not talk with a survivor after an abuse settlement,
who has not said one thing about historical abuse
and who has officially said he will never talk to this website again.
♦ jesuit.org.au
His third visit to Australia and this one received no publicity.
There was no mention on the Australian jesuit website, now there is an interview with him on the website.
He is the number one guy worldwide for sex abuse response, protection and truthfulness.
Aaron Prestipino of Senateshj his PR manager for his visit has not replied to two emails asking who were the "Additional support and survival advocacy group?".
Senateshj website says that:
"Reputation has become more important – but it’s harder to manage than any other form of risk."
"the three key factors which played the biggest role in exacerbating a crisis and wreaking untold damage on organisational and personal reputation were:
• Lack of transparency
• Lack of awareness and empathy
• Lack of speed and failure to be proactive."
♦ senateshj.com.au
The Australian Society of Jesus and senateshj have both failed on these three points.
