Courage to heal a cancer of the soul

LAST weekend a newspaper headline said I had "failed to act" on sexabuse. That is not true. The headline accompanied a story on RobertSharwood, a priest jailed this month for having abused a boy in the1970s.

In January 2002, within 24 hours of the victimmaking a complaint against Sharwood, the matter was reported to police.Sharwood was immediately stood aside. He was sacked after an assessmentfound the victim's report was true. After becoming Brisbane'sarchbishop in February 2002, I called an independent inquiry intoallegations of past mishandling of abuse complaints and opened morethan 150 cases for re-examination.

Last weekend, in discussing the 2002 actions taken, at no stage didI want to deny the victim's pain or add to it. Rather, I wanted anyremaining historic victims of church abuse to know basic actions thatthe church and I took.

That the church took decades to take appropriate action in this casecannot be forgotten, however. I entirely regret that church leaders whowere told of this abuse in the '70s didn't tell police and that properaction against the perpetrator wasn't taken.

I regret that this no doubt deepened the pain of the victim and hisfamily. And I regret that trust has been so damaged as a result.

A decade or more of revelations made by victims has brought intofocus the damage inflicted by child abuse and the tragic failures ofpast practices in many churches, government institutions and communitygroups. Thankfully, there has been radical change.

The first decade of this new millennium has been a period ofsackcloth and ashes for all institutions soiled by historical abuse.While responses have improved enormously, we have to accept thatanother consequence of past abuse is loss of trust between church andthe community. Victims shouldn't be asked, and cannot be expected, toforget that the church got it very wrong in the past. While thelarge-scale and ongoing changes to our procedures show our resolve totackle abuse, they give us no automatic right to victims' trust.

Some victims may be too hurt and angry to trust us again. That issad but understandable, even when proper actions are being taken now.Certainly the Australian community wants us to prove we've changed.

I recognise that there will be times when even the best processes,applied with the utmost goodwill, sometimes break down. Such failuresdon't mean the system has failed or that the bad old days havereturned. They do show human beings aren't perfect.

But the true test of change, I believe, is not that mistakes don'thappen but that church leaders are prepared to do what we can, when wecan, to remedy them.

Church workers giving all they have to respond properly to victimsof abuse can despair in the face of unfounded criticism. When it feelsto them as if nothing they do is ever enough, I remind them thatcontinuing suspicion is another legacy of past abuse.

The fact perpetrators hide behind facades such as popularity, goodworks and community achievements can lead to deep conflict withinchurch communities. There is a small, albeit significant, number ofchurch people, including priests and senior laypeople, who believe Ihave been too harsh in dealing with people accused and found guilty ofabuse. My staff and my wife have been shocked and hurt by some attacks.This is another element of the complex and far-reaching effects ofabuse.

The bravery and dedication of victims to reveal the truth has been agodsend to the church. That is not to say it is without pain but toacknowledge publicly a long-held private belief. Were it not forvictims' courage, abuse probably would have continued, a cancer in thesoul of the church.

Those who have revealed abuse, and persisted when ignored, haveenabled a slow process of healing to begin for themselves and for ourinstitutions. As we heal, we become fitter and better able to assistothers, including Australian families, where most abuse occurs.

Like most people, both within and beyond the church, I havetravelled a steep learning curve this past 10 years. I've been humbledby victims' stories. I've seen the manipulations of pedophiles andlearned that the most dangerous thing is that they keep their crimessecret, that they hide behind a facade that appears good, caring andtrustworthy, and that they often have many victims.

Things in the church have changed greatly and are continuing tochange for the better. Our protocols in handling child abuse cases aregood, are working and are being improved. Many complaints have beendealt with. The number of old complaints still emerging hasdramatically reduced.

I hope the openness of recent years that has helped so many historicvictims to come forward may continue to encourage any remaining victimsto do so as well. We will continue to work at increasing awareness, athealing past hurt and at protecting today's children and tomorrow's.

Phillip Aspinall is the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane.