Faith in Vatican lost

Peter Blenkiron said the Catholic Church was still focused on acting in the interests of its brand ahead of the protection of children.    

“The church tries to project an outward moral compass, but its their hidden inward moral compass which shows they aren’t doing anything to fix the culture that enabled this to flourish,” he said. 

“It is beggars belief that some religious orders had 40 per cent of paedophiles but to think that even seven per cent of Catholic priests in Australia were paedophiles is just as bad.

“If this was the police force and it was made of seven percent of paedophiles there would be a complete uproar because the only acceptable number is zero.”  

Earlier this week, Truth Justice and Healing Council chief executive Francis Sullivan said he feared the Pope may be retreating from his crackdown on pedophile priests as Vatican bureaucrats do all they can to undermine reform efforts.

It comes after Marie Collins, a prominent survivor of clerical sex abuse, resigned from a special Vatican commission that was created by Pope Francis to tackle the problem, saying the church’s most senior clerics continue to put “other concerns” before the safety of children and vulnerable adults.

Mr Blenkiron also argued the national dress scheme being proposed for victims of sexual abuse at the hands of clergy, would benefit the church, but was not in the interests of survivors.

Led by the Commonwealth, the scheme proposed paying victims up to $150,000 compensation each.

He said the catastrophic toll of mental illness and trauma which has ruined the lives of child sexual abuse victims needs to be addressed through an individualised support plan for survivors.

He called for a of holistic model of care that could be rolled out and trialled by survivors living it Ballarat.

If it worked, it could set a blueprint and be rolled out nationally.

“We need to have research based evidence that shows a supportive system, which takes into account individual needs of survivors, with an element of case management works,” he said.  

“It's not just about money, it's about healing communities and that starts with the individualised care and a holistic support system which enables people to continue to be able to contribute to society. 

“If is done properly it will save society money in the long run because you won’t have people falling apart.”

• To contact CASA, located on the corner of Vale and Edwards streets, Sebastopol, call 5320 3933 or free call 24 hours 1800 806 292. 

Lifeline can be accessed on 13 11 14.