Letters

Royal Commission

Arnold Jago

Contents - Feb 2013 - Buy a copy now Editorial: AD2000 25 years on: the challenges remain - Michael Gilchrist Royal Commission: The Church in Australia faces moment of truth - Peter Westmore News: The Church Around the World Adoration: Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration embraced by Brisbane parish - Kate Hobbs Parish Renewal: New springtime for Catholic faith at St Mary's, South Brisbane - Jenny Davies Marriage: UK Family Court judge: why marriage is worth fighting for - Madonna Brosnan (ed.) Events: iWitness Retreat: a celebration of young adult Catholic faith - Br Barry Coldrey Religious freedom: The widows of Kandmahal: anti-Christian violence in India - Babette Francis Schools: Drawing pupils to God through the true, the good and the beautiful - Rosemary Anderson Grace: Indulgences: relics of the past or still Church teaching? - John Young History: Parish life in the Middle Ages (Part 2): living under canon law - Frank Mobbs Pilgrimage: Christus Rex Pilgrimage 2012: from Ballarat to Bendigo - Patrick Doyle Letters: Church unity? - Richard Congram Letters: Royal Commission - Arnold Jago Letters: Shared faith? - John Frey Letters: Secularist creed - Fr Bernard McGrath Books: THE PASSION OF PERPETUA AND FELICITY, by Thomas J. Heffernan - Peter Westmore (reviewer) Books: TAI CHI, REIKI: A Guide for all Christians, by Br Max Sculley FSC - Br Barry Coldrey (reviewer) Fighting Fund: 2012 Fighting Fund update Books: Order books from www.freedompublishing.com.au Reflection: The cathedral: symbol of Christ's authoritative teaching - Bishop Michael Kennedy

Can a Royal Commission make child abuse less common? If so, let's get on with it. But doesn't most child abuse happen within families: uncles, step-parents, the mother's new live-in boyfriend, etc?

Most abused children in Australia have probably never met a priest, or have any clear idea what a priest is. Could the focusing on Catholic priests be - in part perhaps - the brainchild of persons at least as interested in discrediting the Church as in protecting children?

By all means hold the Church accountable for letting bad things happen. But if our priority is children's safety, the Commission must ruthlessly investigate every level of society.

ARNOLD JAGO (DR)
Mildura, Vic

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 26 No 1 (February 2013), p. 16