Bishops admit 'tragic mistake' over pedophile

MOVING one of the worst pedophiles in Australian history to new parishes for years after he was identified as an abuser was "a tragic mistake".

Bishop Paul Bird

MOVING one of the worst pedophiles in Australian history to new parishes for years after he was identified as an abuser was "a tragic mistake", Catholic bishops have admitted.

A Victorian sex abuse inquiry heard yesterday that the Ballarat diocese had received 116 claims of abuse, 107 of which had been substantiated and 67 of which involved convicted pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale. In a dramatic day of evidence, the inquiry also heard that the Salesian order had paid out more than $2 million in compensation to victims, and that the St John of God order had paid individual compensation of up to $200,000 to victims, including intellectually disabled children, for abuse that was "indefensible and deplorable".

Under intense questioning, Ballarat bishops Peter Connors and Paul Bird told a packed inquiry that a police officer had told bishop Ronald Mulkearns about an incident involving Ridsdale in the Victorian town of Inglewood in 1975, which church insurers would later use as a cut-off date for offences involving the pedophile priest.

Rather than removing Ridsdale from the ministry, Bishop Mulkearns sent him to the US for "therapy" and then returned him to duties in other parishes, with "horrible consequences".

Asked whether Bishop Mulkearns had been wilfully blind to the abuse, Bishop Bird said: "It wasn't wilful blindness; it was a tragic mistake on his part. It proved to be a terrible mistake."

Bishop Connors, who succeeded Bishop Mulkearns in Ballarat, said: "He got bad advice and he very naively accepted that advice."

He said Bishop Mulkearns was also "naive" in his support for another pedophile priest, Paul David Ryan, who should never have been ordained, and agreed that by moving abusers between parishes the church had facilitated further abuse of children.

The bishops - the first to be brought before a public inquiry - explained the failure of Bishop Mulkearns to appear by saying he had had a stroke several years ago and his memory and ability to focus was "not very good".

Although he was willing to appear, he "didn't think he would be of much assistance" to the inquiry.

Outside the inquiry, Stephen Woods, who was abused by three priests including Ridsdale, said Bishop Mulkearns was "culpable and complicit and duplicitous" and must be called to give evidence. "They still don't get it," Mr Woods said. "There is no urgency in their behaviour . . . no urgency to understand the systemic problems in the church. They aren't looking at why their bishops have not had an urgency about the crimes . . . committed."

He said moving pedophile priests "wasn't a 'mistake', it was church policy to cover up".

In earlier evidence, St John of God provincial Tim Graham and the order's professional standards chairwoman Rosanna Harris said complaints had been made against 15 of the 60 brothers who worked in Victoria, but there was no evidence they operated as a pedophile ring or that there was collusion between pedophiles.

They told the parliamentary inquiry St John of God had dealt with 31 child-related cases in Victoria since 1993, most relating to the 1960s and early 70s and involving children of "quite severe intellectual disabilities" and behavioural issues.

They said they had paid out individual compensation of up to $200,000 in mediated settlements for abuse that Brother Graham described as "indefensible and deplorable" and that betrayed "the whole reason for the church's existence".

Brother Graham said pedophilia was poorly understood until the 80s, but inquiry member Frank McGuire said that was factually incorrect and that Pope John XXIII had spoken of the "foulest crime" confronting the church in 1962 while buggery was a capital offence.

In a prepared statement, Brother Graham said: "We shamefully acknowledge the great harm that has been perpetrated by some of our members. All of our brothers daily live the shame of the devastating harm that has been wreaked by some of their number in the lives of vulnerable people in our care."

He said the brothers "humbly ask the forgiveness of our victims if they are able to give it".

Salesian provincial Greg Chambers admitted that "grave ills and wrongs" occurred at the order's school Rupertswood, at Sunbury, north of Melbourne, in the 70s and 80s.