Father Kevin Dillon, parish priest of Geelong's St Mary of the Angels Basilica said the Melbourne Response system needs an external and independent review. "People who have picked up The Age this week will ask, 'Why do these stories keep coming?'" The Age cites him saying. "They will keep coming until the Church effectively helps those who have been abused and who don't feel supported by a Church which has been part of that abuse."
"I think in reality independence as a totality would be needed and we'd have to look for someone totally outside of the Church ... (it) is usually the best way to be seen to be completely independent," Fr Dillon separately told ABC's Lateline.
"The whole saga of clerical sex abuse is an enormous problem."
The Age further quoted Fr Dillon saying that a system that has handled so many cases without public scrutiny was due to a Church that was "too self-protecting for its own good."
He questioned how Archbishop Hart could label the system a success when no one had ever interviewed victims about their experiences in dealing with it or had reviewed the handling of cases.
"If you questioned everyone and they came back and said it is good, then you could say it is only a small group who are complaining. But I would be surprised if that was the case."
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