Labor MP Paul Edbrooke unleashes on Archbishop Peter Comensoli in mandatory reporting push
A Victorian MP has slammed Melbourne’s Catholic Archbishop Peter Comensoli and revealed his father had his “innocence torn away” when he was raped by a priest as a teen.
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A Victorian MP has revealed his father was raped by a clergyman as he slammed Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli’s “entitlement and hypocrisy”.
Paul Edbrooke, the Frankston MP, shared the story of how his father Nick had his “innocence torn away” as a teenager in a powerful speech supporting the Andrews Government’s new laws to force priests to report admissions of abuse made during confession.
Reading from a letter of apology from the church sent to his father a month ago, Mr Edbrooke said the “heinous act” occurred in the 1960s. His father tried to take his own life at Flinders Street station the night it happened and later spent months in a psychiatric hospital.
“My dad is a survivor, and he said that I could share this letter, if it assists parliament to know that apologies are worth nothing, unless we follow them up with action,” Mr Edbrooke said.
The Labor MP then unleashed on Archbishop Comensoli, who said earlier this month that he was prepared to go to jail in defiance of the new mandatory reporting laws.
Mr Edbrooke told parliament he was “detached from all logic and reality” by refusing to report child sexual abuse.
He also described Archbishop Comensoli’s defence of George Pell’s innocence as “nonsensical ramblings”.
“By falling in line, closing ranks with the boys, Comensoli has utterly failed the leadership test, he’s failed the character test and he’s failed people of Catholic faith. The church’s moral compass is broken,” he said.
As he called on all MPs to support the new laws, Mr Edbrooke said that if Jesus were alive today, he was sure “he would be the very first to report child abuse without exception and without exemption”.