One of Australia’s most senior archbishops apologized yesterday to victims of sexual abuse by priests in a message condemning the behavior and the Catholic Church’s failure to properly deal with the problem.
Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart sent the message to all churches in more than 200 parishes in the southern state of Victoria with instructions that it be either read at Sunday mass or made available to people attending.
Catholic Church leaders in Australia have long condemned abuse by priests in interviews and statements, but rarely addressed the problem in such forthright terms in sermons or other messages delivered in church.
“The scourge of sexual abuse continues to cause great distress and in many cases a crisis of faith amongst Catholics,” Hart told worshipers gathered at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne.
“Every week seems to bring fresh scandals, as victims of abuse speak publicly of what they and their families have suffered. I express my deep sorrow and offer a sincere and unreserved apology to all those victims who have suffered the pain and humiliation of sexual abuse and to their families,” he said.
A handful of protesters outside the cathedral said Hart’s apology did not go far enough.
Helen Last of the Melbourne Victims’ Collective, a support group for sufferers of church abuse, said Hart’s statement simply reiterated comments made by former Melbourne archbishop George Pell in the 1990s, when an abuse scandal first broke in Australia.
“Apology not accepted,” Last said. “All Hart has done is to rehash the same apology.”
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