Reports of sex abuse by both the catholic and anglican church are being received. None of these will be placed on the Generator, they are asolutely shocking. Clause 6 of the Royal Commissions Act 1902 outlines penalties for anyone who refuses to answer questions.
Australian priests could be forced to breach seal of the confessional
Australian priests could be forced to breach the seal of the confessional to report child sex abuse amid growing calls to end cover-ups involving the Catholic Church.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Wednesday slammed the use of the confessional to avoid reporting abuse, saying it is a “sin of omission” and all adults have a duty to protect children.
She announced this week the launch of a Royal Commission to investigate offences involving religious and non-religious organisations and insisted it will examine not only abuse but the role of institutions in covering it up.
Though the commission’s terms of reference are yet to be decided, Ms Gillard said on Wednesday she was concerned about adults “averting their eyes” from crimes against children.
”It’s not good enough for people to engage in sin of omission and not act when a child is at risk,” she said.
Australia’s most powerful Catholic, Archbishop of Sydney George Pell, was this week widely condemned for insisting that priests who hear confessions of child sex abuse must keep quiet because “the Seal of Confession is inviolable”.
He said priests should avoid taking confessions from colleagues suspected of being paedophiles but that they cannot then report the crime to police.
“If that is done outside the confessional (it can be passed on),” he said.
“(But) the Seal of Confession is inviolable If the priest knows beforehand about such a situation, the priest should refuse to hear the confession.” The strict secrecy of confessions is believed to be more than 1000 years old.
But a growing number of Australian politicians of all persuasions – including several prominent Catholics – have called for priests to break the seal and report child abuse to police.
The Attorney General, Nicola Roxon, said the commission’s terms of reference were yet to be decided but the failure by priests to report abuse was “abhorrent”. Several states in the US have ruled that the clergy must report cases of child abuse.
“I think the whole community finds that idea [that priests would not report abuse] really abhorrent,” Ms Roxon told ABC Television.
“We’ve been through these debates for mandatory reporting for doctors, teachers, for others that [are] meant to be in close relationships and nevertheless have been required to make reports. So I think we really need to look carefully, there aren’t a different set of rules that apply.”
A senior federal Liberal frontbencher, Christopher Pyne, a practising Catholic, also declared that priests should report child sex abuse heard in the confessional.
“If a priest, or anyone else, is aware of the sexual abuse of children that is going on, I think there is an obligation on them to report it to the appropriate authorities,” he said.
The commission was established following explosive claims late last week by a senior Australian police officer that the Catholic Church covered up evidence of paedophilia by priests.
Though the inquiry will look at the role of sports groups, Scouts, child welfare agencies and other non-religious organisations, the Catholic Church has come under intense scrutiny this week following new revelations about child abuse at schools.