Royal Commission finds abuse of children a ‘catastrophic institutional failure’ of the Catholic Church

THE abuse of hundreds of children at the hands of paedophile priests in and around Ballarat has been described as a “catastrophic institutional failure” of the Catholic Church.

THE abuse of hundreds of children at the hands of paedophile priests in and around Ballarat has been described as a “catastrophic institutional failure” of the Catholic Church.

Two years after it first started its probe of the Ballarat Diocese the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse handed down its much anticipated final report today.

It comes a day after the release of a scathing report into the Melbourne Archdiocese and its handling of sexual abuse complaints.

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As with that report the commission is virtually silent in regards to Cardinal George Pell, who is currently facing criminal charges, with its findings into his evidence redacted so as not to prejudice those matters.

Cardinal George Pell leaves court after a hearing earlier this year. Picture: Mark Stewart

Cardinal Pell was twice called to give evidence to the Ballarat hearings because of his long history in the area where he was a junior priest and later adviser to disgraced Bishop Ronald Mulkearns.

The commission was scathing of Mulkearns for orchestrating a widespread cover-up of abuse during his reign between 1971 and 1997.

It found on no occasion did the Bishop or any other member of the clergy report allegations or complaints of child sexual abuse to the police or other authority.

“The welfare of children was not the primary concern of senior members of the Diocese when responding to complaints and allegations of child sexual abuse,” the commissions said.

Bishop Ronald Mulkearns appears before the Royal Commission.

“There is no doubt it should have been”.

It found the most likely explanation for the conduct of Bishop Mulkearns and other senior clergy was to minimise the risk of scandal and protect the reputation of the Catholic Church.

“This case study exposed a catastrophic failure in the leadership of the Diocese and ultimately in the structure and culture of the Church over decades,” the report found.

“That failure led to the suffering and often irreparable harm to children, their families and the wider community.

“That harm could have been avoided if the Church had acted in the interests of children rather than in its own interests.”

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Hundreds of children were molested under the watch of Ronald Mulkearns who shuffled priests between parishes as rumours of their offending grew.

At times he moved swiftly to move priests after formal complaints had been made.

Notorious paedophile Gerald Ridsdale, considered the most evil priest in Australian history, held 16 appointments over his 29-year career as a priest.

The commission found Mulkearns was aware of Ridsdale’s offending as early as 1975 but let him continue working as a priest in various parishes for almost two more decades.

Gerald Ridsdale gives evidence to the Royal Commission in 2015.

Over that time Ridsdale says he lost count of how many students he abused, but says it numbers in the hundreds.

Officially he has pleaded guilty to abusing 65, while 78 formal claims have been made against him.

In its report the commission said a survey indicated 196 people had made a claim of child sexual abuse against priests and religious in the Ballarat Diocese, 56 of those Christian Brothers.

Commissioners found there “was a complete failure by the Christian Brothers to protect the most vulnerable children in their care”.

Mulkearns died last April before being able to finish giving his evidence to the commission.

He admitted shuffling offending priests around parishes despite knowing of their crimes.

“I’m terribly sorry that I didn’t do things differently,” he said.

“I didn’t really know what to do or how to do it.”

Current Ballarat Bishop Paul Bird said today that mishandling of complaints against priests and church personnel and a lack of response to such complaints led to unnecessary suffering for many victims.

It brought distress to communities throughout the diocese, he said.

Bishop Bird said that the Church should be a safe place for everyone but the history brought to light in the Royal Commission’s inquiry has shown that the Church was not safe for those who were victims.

“Where the failures of my predecessors allowed abuse to occur, I offer my heartfelt apology,” he said.

Bishop Bird added that he was confident that the diocese and its parishes and schools now have the policies and procedures required to provide a safe environment for children.

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