VICTORIAN PARLIAMENTARY ENQUIRY AND NATIONAL ROYAL COMMISSION INTO CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE
The first focus is our compassion for the victims. Many of you will know a victim abused by a church person or someone else. Some of my friends are abuse victims and the devastating effects of the abuse can be seen 40 or 50 years later.
My hearing first hand from victims has made me realise how debilitating such abuse is.
The great English Cardinal Newman (1801-1891) wrote “We must face the facts.. we can’t change the facts; we must face the truth.”
“Facing the Truth”, the submission to the Victorian Enquiry from the Victorian Catholic Church has been accepted by the Enquiry and can be viewed on the special website www.facingthetruth.org.au The website has an 8 page executive summary with graphs and the whole report of 155 pages. There are updates on this website.
The Church has three goals:
1. To assist the healing of the victims. In Melbourne, the Church provides special counselling.
2. To deal promptly and effectively with those guilty of abuse.
3. To prevent further abuse in the future.
As we mentioned in March this year, there has been another revision of the Code of Conduct for caring for children in the Melbourne Parishes. Our Parish is implementing this Code, especially in regard to “Working With Children Checks” (WWCC).
In our two primary schools, we are teaching children to be aware, to speak up and be assertive. The FBI states the best defence against predators is assertive children as abusers prey on quiet, isolated children. We have recently installed a higher fence around St Anne’s School. All visitors to our schools must sign in. All classroom helpers and contractors must have a WWCC.
As Jesus taught, “The truth will set you free.”
……..Kevin McIntosh
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish Sunbury 