ACBC President Archbishop Philip Wilson says the Australian bishops and religious leaders are firmly committed to providing appropriate clinical services to priests, religious and church personnel in need of psychological treatment. In a media statement, Archbishop Wilson said a Sydney Morning Herald article on Friday gave a misleading impression that the Encompass program for treating psychosexual and other mental health issues, had been wound up because of a cash shortfall.
He said that in fact a new model of providing these services was being explored because referrals to Encompass had fallen in recent years to an unsustainable level.
"Encompass was a structure that served well during a period when its services were in higher demand," Archbishop Wilson said.
"In recent years the number of referrals to Encompass fell and it became clear that the structure was no longer viable.
"The Bishops and Religious Leaders remain firmly committed to ensuring that priests, religious and Church personnel have access to treatment services to assist them and to ensure the safety and well being of the whole Church community.
"In light of this, we have moved immediately to implement a system of referral to appropriate clinical services, the costs of which will continue to be met by the Church.”
Archbishop Wilson said the trend of falling referrals to Encompass in recent years meant that a complete restructure of service provision for the future was needed, rather than a short term rescue package.
In the meantime, a phone referral service is meeting the needs for the few referrals that have come forward, ensuring that there is no gap in services, he said.
"It is always difficult to make change, but circumstances have forced a re-examination of the situation and we are confident that this restructure will deliver the best way forward for the Church and to protect the community,” Archbishop Wilson said.
Meanwhile, the Herald Sun reports that a 57 year -old Catholic priest has been remanded in custody after a Sydney jury found him guilty of 18 sex offences involving seven boys.
After almost seven days of deliberations, the New South Wales District Court jury today found Father Paul Raymond Evans guilty of nine counts of homosexual intercourse by a teacher, seven counts of indecent assault and two acts of indecency.
He was found not guilty of one homosexual count and one indecent assault.
Evans, a member of the Catholic order the Salesians of Don Bosco, had been a dormitory master at Boys Town, Engadine, in Sydney's south.
The offences occurred between 1977 and 1988.
And a former teaching priest appeared before Bathurst Local Court last week facing 33 charges of sexual assault on five students, dating back to the 1980s, the Western Advocate says.
Former St Stanislaus’ College teacher Brian Joseph Spillane has not entered pleas on any of the 33 charges.
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