HEAR members Ian Lawther and Pam Krstic want answers. They, along with a member who cannot be identified for legal reasons, handed an open letter to Bishop Les Tomlinson during Child Protection Week in September. 40513
By Kath Gannaway
A HEALESVILLE group fighting for changes to the Catholic Church’s response to sexual abuse within the church has spoken out, following the release last week of a damning report on the church in Ireland.
The Murphy Report details hundreds of cases of sexual abuse by priests in Dublin between 1975 and 2004.
HEAR (Healesville Education and Awareness Raising re Clergy Professional Misconduct and Sexual Abuse) say they are frustrated by the mounting weight of evidence of cultural abuse and the Melbourne Archdiocese’s unwillingness to engage in dialogue with the victims, their families and groups lobbying for change.
HEAR presented an open letter to Catholic Vicar-General, Bishop Les Tomlinson when he celebrated mass at St Brigid’s Church in Healesville in September but say they have received no reply to their questions or to their call for a meeting.
Two St Brigid’s priests have been convicted and placed on the Sexual Offenders Register –David Daniel in 2000 and Paul Pavlou in August this year.
HEAR member Ian Lawther, and the mother of the boy abused by Pavlou presented the letter in person.
Mr Lawther said the Murphy Report raised the same issues over church practices in dealing with investigations of alleged abuse, which have not been adequately addressed in The Melbourne Response, set up by Archbishop George Pell in 1996 to handle more than 400 sexual abuse cases.
“There is every reason to believe that the church culture of Ireland has been repeated here,” he said calling for an investigation and report along similar lines.
HEAR, in their letter to Bishop Tomlinson, called for the development of a child-safe environment policy for schools and parishes with an annual audit and reviews by an independent body to ensure compliance.
Mr Lawther said it was a model practised in many other dioceses around the world.
They questioned why Daniel and Pavlou remain priests and asked what action was being taken to laicise priests convicted of sexual offences.
They asked for details of what improvements had been put in place to screen priests in Melbourne.
The Mail also requested answers to those, and other questions, from Bishop Tomlinson but did not receive a response before going to print.
