National Principals Conference and Ritual of Apology
Statement | 1 June, 2017
Statement from Archbishop Christopher Prowse read by Fr Tony Percy, Vicar General, Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn at the National Principals Conference and Ritual of Apology, 1 June 2017.
Dear Friends,
As the Catholic Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn I welcome you all to the Archdiocese, I’m particularly saddened that I cannot join you and welcome you personally, but at this time I am overseas for various meetings.
I particularly wanted to greet you when you gather for the Edmund Rice Education Australia Ritual of Apology on Thursday, 1st June 2017.
The recently concluded public sessions of the Royal Commission into Child Sex Abuse have revealed profound and deep wounds at so many levels throughout Australia, and particularly Catholic Australia.
I am profoundly sorry, the Archdiocese is profoundly sorry for what has happened. We ask forgiveness from God, and forgiveness from the survivors.
We pray particularly for the survivors of child sex abuse in the schools of Edmund Rice Education Australia over the years.
We ask God’s healing peace upon those who still suffer the shocking after affects of criminal and traumatic experiences.
We double our efforts to do all that we can to ensure that we surround survivors and their families and friends with our support.
At the same time, we do all that we can to make sure that our schools are safe places and our protocols and procedures for responding immediately to such issues are in place.
Once again, I apologise for not being with you for this important moment. I have sent my Vicar General, Fr Tony Percy to act on my behalf and to be present with you in prayer.
With renewed sentiments of encouragement for your conference and all that you do in Australia through the Edmund Rice Education Australia network.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Archbishop Christopher Prowse
Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn
1st June 2017
National Principals Conference and Ritual of Apology (pdf - 74.35 KB)