Aussie archbishop under fire

2002-07-30 10:49

Sydney - The Catholic Church faced growing pressure on Tuesday to clarify or explain reported comments by its most senior cleric that abortion is worse than child sex abuse by priests.

The head of the church in Australia, Sydney Archbishop George Pell, was reported by the Toronto Globe and Mail to have made the remark to 500 young delegates at a World Youth Day forum in Canada.

The paper quoted him as saying abortion was a worse moral scandal than priests sexually abusing young people "because it (abortion) is always a destruction of human life".

The church has so far declined to comment on the controversy until Pell returns to Australia from a trip to Canada which coincided with a visit by Pope John Paul II.

Pell is already facing strong criticism in Australia for allegedly covering up child sex abuse.

He was accused by a television station here in May of trying to conceal the sexual abuse of a young family friend at the hands of a priest by offering the victim financial assistance in return for his silence.

The priest, one of Australia's most notorious paedophile clerics, was later jailed for 15 years for offences against 21 children.

Denied allegations

Pell, who was an auxiliary bishop in the Melbourne diocese when the cover-up was said to have been attempted in 1993, has denied the allegations.

Labour opposition leader Simon Crean on Tuesday called for the Catholic Church to clarify precisely what Pell said in Canada.

"It has not been able to be clarified, so I think that it's important for the church to clarify its position," Crean told reporters.

"But regardless of the reported comments, the point is that child sex abuse is wrong, and what we need is policies that deal with the victims of the crime ... in a sensitive and compassionate way, and help with their healing."

Labour wants to introduce a national commissioner for children and young people, and a national system of "safety checks" for people working with children.

Brisbane-based child protection advocate Hetty Johnston, who runs a victim support network, called for a royal commission, expressing shock over Pell's comments.

'Incredible trauma'

She said it appeared Catholic Church leaders were ignoring the "incredible trauma" of child sex abuse.

Broken Rites, a group of former victims of child sex abuse which has helped fight for compensation from churches, said Pell's latest comments would dishearten victims by reinforcing the impression that the church was not listening to community concerns.

"We feel the church has struggled for years to take sexual abuse by clergy seriously, and comments like this tend to mean to the victims that they're still not," said a spokesperson for the group, Chris MacIsaac.

The Anglican Church, which has also faced numerous allegations of child abuse and cover-ups by its senior clergy, has proposed a criminal record check for Anglican priests, and advocates a national mechanism to prevent unsuitable people from being employed or placed in charge of children. - Sapa-AFP

- SAPA