Response to the Royal Commission December 2017
Pastoral Statement | 15 December, 2017
….Deliver us from evil…
The journey of the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sex Abuse has been a period of utter shame for the Catholic Church.
Revealed like never before, has been the diabolical criminality by some of our Church personnel toward the ‘poor little ones’ of God over the past 50 plus years.
We have heard from courageous victims who have carried throughout their lives the open wounds of unimaginable and unspeakable evil by people who have used their positions of moral power and authority for horrendous crimes.
These revelations are shocking, and engender immense humiliation in our communities.
We are truly sorry for all that has taken place.
The Royal Commission has been like an extended “Examination of Conscience” for us over 5 years. It has held a prophetic mirror before us in a sustained manner that has both produced shame and conversion.
This conversion of the heart is the beginning of a hope-filled path into the future. Conversion of cultural patterns and structures must follow.
We commit ourselves to examine carefully the recommendations of the Royal Commission, and build on what has already begun in the long future road to collective responsibility.
May the Lord “deliver us from evil” as we follow more closely His ways of mercy and justice.
Archbishop Christopher Prowse
Catholic Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn
Friday, 15th December 2017