Editorial

NSW child sex abuse report released

Peter Westmore

Contents - Jul 2014 - Buy a copy now Editorial: NSW child sex abuse report released - Peter Westmore Middle East: Pope Francis cuts through divisions in the Holy Land - AD2000 Report News: The Church Around the World Pauline Fathers: Opening of Mercy Valley in Mareeba, North Queensland - Garry O'Brien Youth: Young adult ministry flourishing in Australia - Br Barry Coldrey Nigeria: Oka Obulu Uzo: leading by example - Madonna Brosnan Dubai: is this the largest parish in the world? - Patrick Byrne Summorum Pontificum: Growth of Latin Mass parishes and chaplaincies in Australia - Michael E. Daniel Life: a gift of inestimable value - Anne Lastman Apps: Smartphone Catholic apps for all purposes - Peter Westmore Boko Haram: Christians and Muslims unite against Nigerian terrorists - CNA-EWTN REPORT Egpyt: Bishop sees hope for Egypt's Christians Letters: Faith the solution - Tim Coyle Letters: Divine Office on PC - John Rayner Letters: Human rights priorities - Richard Congram Books: RACE WITH THE DEVIL: My Journey Racial Hatred to Rational Love, by Joseph Pearce - Michael Daniel (reviewer) Books: HE LEADETH ME, by Fr Walter J Ciszek SJ - Michael Daniel Books: Order books from www.freedompublishing.com.au Reflection: The Pope meets ICEL: a bishop's reflection on Vatican II - Bishop Arthur Serratelli

The wide-ranging special commission of inquiry into the police investigation of child sexual abuse allegations in the Catholic diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, conducted by NSW Senior Counsel Margaret Cuneen, has handed its four-volume report to the NSW government.

The inquiry followed allegations by a senior NSW police officer, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox, that senior police had prevented him from investigating allegations of cover-up by church leaders of sexual abuse of children in the Hunter region.

Mr Fox further alleged that there was a "Catholic mafia" operating in the NSW police force who were determined that there be no proper investigation of child sexual abuse associated with the Catholic Church, and assisted the concealing of such crimes by senior church officials. He even suggested that Cardinal George Pell (whom he called "Mr Pell") was implicated.

These sensational allegations were made on the ABC TV program Lateline, and were extensively repeated over following months on other TV channels, on radio and in the print and social media.

The inquiry found that successive bishops of Maitland-Newcastle had indeed covered up allegations of sexual abuse by at least two priests over many years in the belief that it would cause scandal, and that the retired Bishop of Maitland had given false evidence to the commission and issued a "misleading" pastoral letter about sexual abuse of children in 2003.

While accepting that Chief Inspector Fox had acted professionally in prosecuting one of the priests who had been convicted of sexual abuse, it found no evidence to support his claims of a police cover-up, nor of the existence of a "Catholic mafia" within the police force.

The inquiry concluded that Fox had "developed what amounted to an obsession about both the Catholic Church and alleged conspiracies involving senior police".

Unfortunately, these findings received only a fraction of the media coverage of the original damaging allegations.

– Peter Westmore is Publisher of AD2000.

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 27 No 6 (July 2014), p. 2