Newcastle Catholic Bishop Michael Malone's extraordinary letter of apology to the community on Saturday has been applauded by Hunter child sex abuse victims, the Newcastle Herald reports. "Michael Malone has been prepared to face the music on many occasions, and he's done so with humility and sincerity," said Peter Gogarty, a victim of pedophile priest Jim Fletcher and long-time campaigner on behalf of the church's child sex victims.
"The bishop has admitted he's stuffed up, but at least he's confessed up.
"He's the only bishop in Australia, as far as I'm aware, who's been willing to do that. Michael Malone of the Maitland-Newcastle diocese released a public letter of apology to clerical sex abuse victims, reiterating regret for past hurts and failures - and how things have changed.
Bishop Malone's apology was released over the weekend. "Since (a gathering in the diocese with abuse victims in 2008), there has been a litany of revelations about the Catholic Church, including our own diocese," it began.
"When people read, hear and see these stories, questions arise and uncertainty grows. How was it allowed to happen? Did the church put perpetrators before victims? Is the church still covering up? Has anything really changed?," Bishop Malone wrote.
He outlines the Paedophile Inquiry that took place between 1994-1997, which looked at the history and practices of governments, community agencies and churches in NSW in the matter of child sexual abuse; and how it has led to "fundamental change" within the Church.
He details the changes in the letter.
"I acknowledge that we live in a broken world and that ours is a wounded church. As Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle, I am committed, with the diocese, to strive to mend what is broken, to bind what is wounded and to seek forgiveness for our failures," he concludes.
The victims condemned the continuing silence from other clergy who had roles in the attempted secret defrocking of pedophile priest Denis McAlinden in 1995.
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