Letters: Sex abuse issue cannot be ignored

Sydney
7 July 2002

Bishops take their message to the top

MPs misled on embryos: ethicist

Cardinal Clancy’s look to ‘blue sky’

Golden wedding Mass at Cardinal Gilroy Village

200,000 boost lifts number of Aussie Catholics above 5m

Penny-farthing raises ante

Tas firm wins sacred text rights for web

Pope presents pallium to Archbishop Wilson

NZ bishops apologise to abuse victims

Church guidelines for priestly behaviour under review

Religious still ‘prepare for the unknown’

Flags for World Youth Day pilgrims

Fr Maurice O’Connor OSA (1921-2002)

Vatican gives nod to neocatechumenism

Caritas set to hit $6m target

‘Most travelled priest’ – golden jubilee

Editorial: Spiritual gold

Letters: Sex abuse issue

Conversation: People ‘often look for God in wrong places’ - Cardinal Clancy, retired Archbishop of Sydney

Reflections: Proclaiming the ‘Gospel of life’!

Respect for human dignity

‘Hundreds in crisis’ in Macarthur area

‘Times have changed’ at St Anthony’s

New clinic offers alternative to IVF

Inspirations: Bush retreat is a winner with kids

Letters: Sex abuse issue cannot be ignored

It was good to read of Archbishop Philip Wilson’s clear ideas about the extent of the problem and the required solutions in his address to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. (US calls in Australian archbishop, CW 23/6).

However, there is still a lot to be done.

Archbishop Wilson said that a lot of decisions were made in Australia in 1996, but the fact is that in at least one case in Rockhampton (which was discussed in an open letter from the Bishop of Rockhampton) a priest who admitted to molesting children in 1995 remained a priest until he retired in 1998.

I believe that I am a loyal Catholic and supportive of the Church, but I am frustrated (and, indeed, angry) that the scale of this issue became clear more than 10 years ago and yet the issue is still festering.

I regret saying this, but in my opinion the laity has become heartily sick of having to defend the inaction of the hierarchy of the Church.

This issue is so large (and “could destroy the Church” in the words of Archbishop Wilson) that it will not disappear by being ignored. It has to be confronted and all the consequences addressed.

As well as care for the victims, there has to be open, serious and extended discussion of the issues in the parishes. Hopefully in this way the laity can be confident that any new cases of child abuse in the Church will be addressed quickly and victims will be confident of the support of the Church.

Paul Gilchrist
Mosman NSW

DON’T SHOOT ...

Thank you Archbishop Philip Wilson for telling the US Conference of Catholic Bishops “the American media had done a great service in pointing out the big problems concerning child sex abuse and the clergy in the US”.

The same edition of The Catholic Weekly (23/6) reported Br Kelvin Canavan, executive director of schools in the Sydney Archdiocese, as saying that “the Church is under attack from the print and electronic media”.

It is time for Catholics to stop shooting the messenger.

The Australian media have done a great service in reporting the sexual abuse by clergy and religious. It is not easy to accept, but we have to acknowledge that abuse has taken place and, without the media, many of us would not have been aware of this.

Every time a spokesperson offers an apology and then castigates the media for ignoring the positives, the apology is denigrated.

If there is to be any genuine healing, we all have to have the courage to face the truth.

Every time the media are blamed, the survivors of the abuse are denied the fact of their abuse.

Perhaps we need a Truth and Reconciliation Commission along the South African lines.

Janet Morrissey
West Wollongong

DIFFERENT DESTINIES

Mention of the Nazi experiments on disabled children and more recently the report on an Austrian clinic’s experiments on the preserved brains of these unfortunates (Embryos – Nazi reminder, CW 2/6), reminded me of a story I read some years ago.

An elderly doctor in England told of his grandfather’s experience as a doctor in a hospital in Braunau, Austria, in the 1890s.

One April night, two babies were born – a boy and a girl.

The doctor took a keen interest in the little girl, who eventually was diagnosed with what would be described today as Down’s Syndrome.

She did poorly at school, but her mother considered her to be a treasure, the only one in the large family to nurse and care for her ailing mother in the last years of her life.

And the bouncing baby boy, born on the same night?

The doctor didn’t need to chase up what happened to him. He was always in the news.

A decorated hero in World War I, he later went into politics. His name? Adolf Hitler.

Frank Bellet
Petrie, Qld

ST PATRICK’S

Fr Greg Ferguson said during Mass at St Patrick’s, Church Hill, that the themes of his sermon were also contained in his article in The Catholic Weekly (it was about believing in Jesus in this life, so that he will be there for you in the next). But when I went to buy a copy of The Catholic Weekly it had sold out!*

Tanya Baini
Milsons Point, NSW

*St Patrick’s has increased the number of copies of The Catholic Weekly so hopefully Tanya can buy one this week!

‘TEMPTATION’

The confusion over the words of the Our Father arises from the misinterpretation of “temptation”. If we translate it as a test to be undertaken unaided, like an exam, the meaning becomes clear.

What we are asking is not to be left on our own to face the trials and temptations (in the popular sense) of life, or to be spared such trials and temptations altogether because we might not be able to overcome them.

In some countries the wording is “do not bring us to the test”, the assumption being the test is something to be undertaken unaided.

Remo Dellagiacoma
Epping, NSW

PRAY FOR THE POPE

In a recent news item on TV it was stated that some members of the Catholic Church hierarchy wanted Pope John Paul II to stand down because of his ill health.

Even though he suffers, I firmly believe that the Pope is able to fulfil his duties.

The Pope has said he intends to remain in the ministry that God has entrusted to him.

Please pray for him and continue to support Pope John Paul II.

Percy Chapman
Woodridge, Qld