Apology ‘just Catholic start’

Erin Pearson
THE CATHOLIC Church must do more than simply apologise to victims of clergy sex assault, according to Geelong’s Father Kevin Dillon.
The St Mary’s parish priest called for a review of the church’s formal Melbourne Response to allegations of assault after the city’s Catholic Archbishop sent a letter of apology to parishes, including Geelong churches.
Fr Dillon read the letter to parishioners at Geelong’s St Mary’s on Sunday.
Fr Dillon said the letter was the first step in healing the wounds of sex assault within the church.
The process should extend to reviewing the Melbourne Response process, which had remained unchanged since its introduction 15 years ago.
Fr Dillon urged the church to go further than just a letter of apology.
“I think what we’ve got to do in the long run is having a proper examination of the people who have been through the current system,” he said.
“Ask them what they have thought about the process – was it supportive, was it intrusive, was it demeaning, was it helpful and, having completed the process, what did you think of the outcome, was it fair and just.
“To say ‘Here is something that’s not done on a public trial basis but we do our best’ isn’t enough. We want to try to determine what the best things we should be doing are and what priorities we should have.
Archbishop Hart’s letter went to every church in the 219 parishes of the archdiocese, which includes the Geelong region.
The letters have earned widespread praise for acknowledging sex abuse in the church as a crime.
“One thing that made [the letter] very welcome was that it indicated a sense of personal distress on the part of the archbishop and echoed the thoughts of most Catholic people and those in the community,” Fr Dillon said.
“The significant thing was he used the word criminal and to acknowledge these things as crimes from within the church I think has been an important step.
“It’s a good starting point but I hope from there we don’t leave it sitting there.”
Under Archbishop George Pell’s Melbourne Response process, an independent commissioner reviews complaints, with compensation capped at $75,000.