Shame and sorrow for all in Church, says schools head

Sydney
23 June 2002

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Shame and sorrow for all in Church, says schools head

By Kathleen Carmody

The serious wrongs of the past and the severe damage done to victims of sexual abuse are a cause of deep shame and sorrow for all in the Church, says Br Kelvin Canavan, executive director of schools in the Sydney archdiocese.

People have been abused by “clergy and religious who, through their actions, have irrevocably broken the trust required of them,” Br Kelvin said.

“To those victims abused during their schooling years in the Archdiocese of Sydney, I offer my sincere apology,” he said.

In a letter distributed to school principals throughout the archdiocese, Brother Kelvin, who is head of the Catholic Education Office Sydney, said the Church is under attack from the print and electronic media.

“Our archbishop (Dr George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney) has been subject to a relentless campaign of criticism,” he said. “Many of our teachers, students, parents, and priests and religious are hurting.

“The media places its focus on failures or weakness of religious institutions and particular individuals, and conveniently ignores the daily contributions the Catholic Church makes to this city through its schools, hospitals, welfare agencies and parishes.

“The thousands who work in a wide variety of Catholic Church ministries deserve our support, respect and solidarity.

“Their work is worthy of objective and truthful reporting in the media.”

Br Kelvin stressed the need for media education in schools to give students the skills, knowledge and attitudes to empower them to be critical and discriminating media consumers.

“One of the most basic aspects of media education is to be able to discriminate between fact and opinion,” he said.

Br Kelvin said that great care was taken in schools to provide students with a safe and caring environment.

All schools in the Sydney Archdiocese followed child protection procedures contained in the recent NSW child protection legislation and those set down in Towards Healing (2000).

The objective “is to provide students in Catholic schools with a safe and caring environment.”

He urged the principals to use their school newsletters – which number about two million annually – to convey positive messages about school, the church and Dr Pell.

“As a community we must help and encourage our priests through these difficult times,” he said.