Part of an international response to the Catholic Church’s history of child sexual abuse, tartan ribbons were tied to the fence of Ballarat’s St Patrick’s Cathedral to support survivors in Scotland.
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The Loud Fence movement brought out bagpipes and more to create a minute of noise on Saturday, replacing a minute of silence - survivors have been silent for too long, according to founder Maureen Hatcher.
“The guys from Scotland contacted me to see if we would also support them, as they’re doing a three day, three night vigil in Glasgow,” she explained.
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“Most of the others were doing the one minute’s silence, we did the one minute of noise.”
The Vatican is concluding a three-day summit on child protection today, and survivors have rallied in Rome each day - Ms Hatcher said it was important to show solidarity.
“I have seen reports via Facebook of a lot of the survivors over there, grouping together, and that’s a good thing,” she said.
“We had six of the guys who went to Rome (in 2016), and I think that speaks volume that there’s that support and camaraderie, that’s what has kept them really strong, and I hope that’s the case with the people overseas as well.”
The summit in Rome includes delegates from around the world, including Archbishop Mark Coleridge from Brisbane.
The goal, which Pope Francis has said should be “concrete”, is to encourage accountability and transparency in the church.
So far, reports of destroyed or hidden statistics on sexual abuse have emerged, as well as global church leaders revealing the struggle of exposing abuse in their own countries - while Australia held a Royal Commission into institutional child sexual abuse, many countries are a long way from beginning an investigation.
Some speakers have noted the summit is a “wake-up call”, and many people, including survivors, hope the summit may establish global guidelines for reporting abuse and helping survivors - a challenge in a global organisation where each country has its own laws and customs,
- Need help? Phone Lifeline on 13 11 14, or the Blue Knot Foundation, which helps survivors of childhood trauma, on 1300 657 380 between 9am and 5pm, or email helpline@blueknot.org.au
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