by Unapologetic Hindu May 3, 2020
Australian High Court recently acquitted Catholic Church Pastor George Pell in sexually abusing 5 boys in 1990’s. He was working as a Treasurer for the Vatican Church in Rome. A jury in Melbourne’s County Court found him guilty of child sexual abuse in 2018. Pastor Pell’s acquittal came as a surprise considering the deep-rooted cover up and proven history of Catholic Church’s abuse of children in Australia. Many well-known faces supported Pastor Pell. From former Prime Minister’s Tony Abbott and Ron Howard to Murdoch journalists like Andrew Bolt, Paul Kelly and Miranda Devine, Vice-Chancellor of Australian Catholic University Greg Craven, Lyle Shelton from Australian Christian Lobby. Though he was acquitted on all charges on April 7th 2020, it still raises serious questions on Catholic Church’s sex abuse rings in Australia.
With only 12.5% of Australians regularly attend mass, the Catholic Church is the biggest private employer with 1,80,000 employees. It is estimated to own A$100 billion worth of properties and other assets. It earns revenue of A$15 billion a year from education, health and welfare services.
A three-year research project by Sally Muytjens, into paedophile Catholic cleric in Victoria, Australia had identified 16 child sex abuse networks operating for more than 60 years that involved 99 priests and brothers. The dark network was active from 1917 until 2001. The research found that their modus operandi was similar to criminal gangs, mafia, terrorist’s cells, drug-dealers, money launderers and price-fixing cartels. The research also showed that the Church hierarchy actively participated and facilitated the child abuse network.
Muytjens also found that the most active dark networks were at schools and orphanages. Christian Brother Ted Dowlan was involved in five of the 16 networks. He is now a convicted paedophile. Another Christian Brother Rex Elmer was active in two networks. He was a teacher in a regional Catholic School in Australia for decades before his crimes caught up with him. The Catholic Church was aware of Elmer’s abuse of vulnerable children yet was sent to run schools in Victoria and Africa. He also used his position to abuse children in Melbourne orphanages in the 1970’s. He threatened his victim by saying “Jesus is coming to get you”. He pleaded guilty to child sex abuse on February 16 2020 and incidentally it was not his first conviction. In 2018 the 75-year old had been charged with 19 counts od indecent assault and one of false imprisonment of three victims in 1975. In 1997 was first charge with 69 counts related to indecent assault of 12 orphanage boys. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
Several priests including Paul David Ryan and Robert Claffey and Ted Dowlan have been jailed for sexual assault. Some priests have spent time in the United States’ St. Lukes Institute for paedophile Catholic Clergy in Maryland for treatment. The researcher went on to further state that the perpetrators were placed in senior roles, which provided them not only further access to victims but also due to their senior position they were better able to cover up dark network from exposure.
There is a litany of convicted priests, Russell Vears, now known as Russell Walker, Terrence Pidoto, Father Wilfred “Bill” Baker, Gerald Ridsdale, Robert Best, Gerald Fitzgerald, Bernard Ring, Father Ron Pickering, Julian Fox, Victor Rubeo, the list goes on. All the involved disgraced priests worked together to share victims or have shared information about vulnerable victims.
In 2016 Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard 853 Australians had claimed child sexual abuse against one or more Christian Brothers, with 75% victims under the age of 13 and 98% of them male. The Church has paid a total compensation of more than A$37 million averaging A$64,000per victim. 44,444 people reported allegations of child sexual abuse to Catholic authorities. Several of the Catholic Church priests are now behind bars after pleading guilty to child sexual abuse. Australian law firm, Shine Lawyers is pursuing civil action against the State of Victoria and Christian Brothers.
Several of the disgraced Pastors were selected and trained by Corpus Christi. It was established in 1923 and has produced several Archbishops in Australia. But a snapshot of graduates produces a disturbing picture. 34 of it’s graduates were found to be accused of child abuse crimes, 17 of whom offended within the first three years of being ordained and four offended before being ordained. This raised serious questions on the way young men were selected and trained.
Today Corpus Christi trains future priests in a professional environment that included human, spiritual, academic, pastoral and missionary activities. It includes both male and female leadership and professionally qualified staff. The Professional Standards Unit of Archdiocese of Melbourne provides the training.
This happened in Churches in Western nations, were laws and rights are well guarded and implemented. Do you think this doesn’t happen in India? Pastor Franco Mulakkal’s case is just a tip of the iceberg. Churches all over the world are adept in covering up sexual abuses cases. Christian’s run educational institutions, NGO’s, destitute centres, orphanages, from Mumbai to Thrissur to Dang. Also, Archbishop of Goa, Fiilipe Neri Ferrao is rumoured to have links with PFI, Popular Front of India. PFI has provided funding for the recent anti-Hindu Delhi riots. We should request the Government of India to setup a Commission of Enquiry into Churches activities to bring justice to victims of sexual abuse and to save India from Christo-Islamic forces.
Further reading:
- https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/study-identifies-16-child-sex-abuse-rings-in-victorian-catholic-church-20200215-p54158.html
- https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/ground-zero-how-the-ballarat-diocese-exported-paedophiles-to-the-world-20190923-p52tvq.html
- https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/how-a-melbourne-seminary-became-the-breeding-ground-for-paedophile-rings-20190917-p52s1n.html
- https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/revealed-how-paedophile-priests-in-victoria-worked-together-to-share-victims-20190916-p52rtz.html
- https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/jesus-is-coming-to-get-you-brother-s-threat-to-boy-he-abused-20200214-p540u8.html
- https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/christian-brothers-sent-cleric-to-africa-despite-knowing-he-had-abused-children-20200214-p540v0.html
- https://www.solidarity.net.au/mag/back/2019/124/hypocrisy-of-the-system-surrounds-george-pell/
- https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/02/27/george-pell-defenders-child-sex-abuse/
- https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/26/cardinal-george-pell-vatican-treasurer-found-guilty-of-child-sexual-assault
