Call for more direct reporting to Pope Francis

The head of the liaison body between the Australian Catholic Church and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has called for the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors to be answerable to the Pope in a much more direct way, rather than reporting through the Vatican bureaucracy. The call follows the resignation last week of Irish clerical abuse survivor and advocate Marie Collins.

Francis Sullivan, CEO of the Truth, Justice and Healing Council, said Ms Collins’ resignation was “a sad loss that sends a very bad signal about the level of obstruction within the Vatican”.

“The Holy Father has made abundantly clear the direction he wants to take,” Mr Sullivan said. “This Commission is working its heart out, yet the resistance within the Vatican is clearly trying to win the day. Pope Francis is really the first pontiff to start naming the problem, and to make it clear that he wants bishops, cardinals and others to be held responsible for  welfare of children. It’s not just about perpetrators, it’s about those who administered the system. No wonder the system is reacting.”

Mr Sullivan told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on 2 March that the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors should be directly answerable to the Pope without any “filtering” through some other body. It should be abundantly clear that there would be transparency about how the Vatican was dealing with the issue, including the way it dealt with priests and disciplined bishops and religious leaders who had done the wrong thing, Mr Sullivan said.

Meanwhile, as Australia’s largest state prepares for a general election today (11 March), both of Western Australia’s main political parties have said they would consider laws requiring clergy to report allegations and suspicions of child sexual abuse.

The child protection spokesman for the opposition Labor Party, Stephen Dawson, told The West Australian newspaper that he was “open” to extending the mandatory reporting requirement to clergy if Labor won the election.
“The law of the land, particularly when it comes to child sexual abuse, should trump internal church policies,” he told the paper.

The Child Protection Minister, Andrea Mitchell, said a re-elected Liberal (Conservative) government would work with other Australian state governments to explore all avenues reasonably expected to expose perpetrators of child sexual abuse.

Asked by Royal Commission Senior Counsel Gail Furness SC, whether priests and religious should be subject to a mandatory requirement to report abuse, Perth’s Archbishop, Timothy Costelloe, said: “My understanding is that it’s not the case in Western Australia at the moment, but I would be much happier if that law were to be changed.”  Sydney’s Archbishop, Anthony Fisher, agreed. “I think it should, with the exception of the seal of confession, and I think it would be very helpful to us if it was consistent across the country,” he said.