What can be done?

My suggestions are to undertake this online course from the USA and then get it implemented in your church and schools. Why? Because it puts children first.

http://www.darkness2light.org/prevention/stewards-of-children/onlinetraining.asp or google "darkness to light".

then you could directly assist the victims by visiting http://www.cabaction/ or google "cabaction"

then if you have a particular bent with politicians or newspaper editors or whomever then get them involved in the same way.

Under the circumstance, anyone can understand the sentiments of and outrage of the Abuse, but to continually thrust a typical Ideological abusiveness at the Church really orchestrates the individual porosity of the topic.

It is an utter fabricated and Idiotic argument, only to purvey the infiltration of the Church institutions with the scourge of sexual and Child abuse- Paedophilia; clearly in fact that is not the case;
If your intentions are honourable you will apply the exact argument across the board and apply the same standard of accountability to every single Institution; Including Politicians – The Legal paternity- and every single other Institution; Judges - Solicitors- Barristers QC’s Sac’s etc. And any other Liberal self prophetic institution.

I can not ever recall anyone demanding an apology from Morris Iemma when a certain Minister had been convicted ;
Iemma and fellow cronies were not considered to be accountable;
Kevin Rudd was never considered accountable for the members within the labour party found guilty of exploitation of young underage girls; whom a Local branch president, owning a brothel had been convicted.

Many thousands of cases exist on the public record ; that selective Ideological potency tends not to mention when a free kick can be had.
NO ; just the typical Idiots Cover up ; so now I demand you apply the same standard of pressure and grievances of those who head the Government as you would have the Pope;

After all , it is the safety of our young , and Justice for victims we are after, is it not?

Jayb. You say child abuse peratrators are all homosexual, then that makes for many thousands out there, not!

http://www.malesurvivor.org/myths,html

Father Brennan

Your article gives me the impresion the Church wants to hide behind legalities rather than recognise it has a serious and systemic problem and addres that problem root and crop.

I note with interest your comment:

'Whenever a complaint concerns an alleged crime, the protocol states that “the Church has a strong preference that the allegation be referred to police and, if desired, the complainant will be assisted to do this”.'

I would have thought that this occur as of course, not just be "a strong preference". Such langauge cn be interpreted to imply lack of action or even cover up by Church authorities. Certainly I think that may well be part of the case against the marists in Canberra, since it appears from Canberra Times reports it is alleged the leaders of the school knew of a number of accusations but took no decisive action. The same comments could be nmade in relation to Pell and recent discloures about so called badly worded letters.

If I am advised of a possible crime and I am in a position of authority, indeed perhaps locum in parentis (not sure that is the correct description) must I not report it to police? If not, am I not an accessory after the fact?

The thing that strikes me about all of this is that in two or three or four years time when more cases come to light (all dating from after Benedict's visit and apology) we will continue to get the same apologias from Father Brennan and the like.

Surely the problem is in the very structures and thought processes of the Church. No amount of protocols will addres that. Only once the Church is democratised from below can this systemic abuse have any chance of being addressed. I suspect however that the belief in an exernal agent of salvation and the authority of his human representatives on earth prevents such a rational approac hbeing adopted and so the merry go round of abuse will continue.

Oh! dear darling Kipp. xxx

I said Priests, etc, (Male) were homosexuals. I know, there are lots of females out there that have sexually abused males too. If females have sexually abused girls then they are homosexuals too, although they are usually called lesbians. Pedophiles, weather male or female, if they have sexually abused the same sex then they are homosexual, by definition.

The discussion is about who has to ultimately accept responsibility for the crime committed, the perpetrator or the authority.

Part 1
I welcome Frank Brennan’s clear exposition of the Church’s processes in dealing with victims of clergy abuse. As a Catholic I am filled with abhorrence at the number of young people who have their lives destroyed or severely compromised as the result of such behaviour and betrayal of trust. I can understand the anger and bitterness of those who were abused.

I cannot understand how the Church leaders continued to move some of these predators around from parish to parish, which enabled them to find new victims, nor can I understand why there was not a system in place to weed out these misfits when they first manifested their vile tendency whether in the seminary or in the ministry.

In any crime ultimately the primary guilt is the perpetrator’s, an institution whether it is church, state, school, or any other, some of the leaders may be responsible for culpable negligence for failing to adequately and justly dealing with perpetrators, or showing sufficient compassion for victims, but that does not make every other person of the institution at what ever level guilty by association.