Parish priests around Australia have been called on to acknowledge the start of Royal Commission hearings into Towards Healing on December 9 by reading the Catholic Church’s child sexual abuse commitment statement at Mass.
The statement was released by the Truth, Justice and
Healing Council and has been endorsed by Church leaders across
Australia. It acknowledges the damage sexual abuse has done and past
failings including cover-ups, failures of leadership and not believing
victims.
The statement also provides a commitment to work towards repairing
past wrongs, listening to and hearing victims, putting victims’ needs
first, and doing everything possible to ensure a safer future for
children.
Mr Francis Sullivan, CEO of the Catholic Church’s Truth Justice and
Healing Council has written to some 1100 priests suggesting they read
the statement, first published in the Council’s Towards Healing
submission to the Royal Commission in September, during Mass, make it
available in Church foyers and publish it on Parish websites.
'On December 9, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to
Child Sexual Abuse will examine the Catholic Church’s protocols for
addressing sexual abuse within the Church, Towards Healing,' Mr Sullivan
said. 'This will be the first time the Catholic Church will be the
central focus of the Royal Commission.'