As I have said all my attempts of communicating with the church have fallen on deaf ears. I think the biggest insult came from our Vicar General who has never in anyway replied to our letter see below and I find it absolutely disgusting that he can find the energy to authorise the return of full priestly duties to a deviant but not acknowledge an open letter delivered to him by three victims of clergy sexual abuse.ie: one teacher who lost her Job, the mother of the latest pedo priest in our parish Paul Pavlou convicted 2009 and myself. As this is so often the case with a large corporation I guess they are just trying to maintain the quantity, while not worrying about diluting the quality of the priests. They so willingly put amongst our children. I don't personally care whether an adult is a homosexual, heterosexual, or celebrate. So long as whatever activity the engage in is consensual but I ask you to remember there is a canon Law about age differences and according to the church if homosexual act between a priest and a boy contains a 2 yr age difference it is illegal that's the way I read it anyway but maybe some one else can shed some light on this. This boy was 16 I think the priest was est. age of 45 at the time do you think your16 yr old son should be put into this sort of position or not regardless that its legal in America Do you believe a 16 yr old boy is mature enough to make this decision.
HERE IS THE LETTER.
6th September 2009
Dear Bishop Tomlinson,
Welcome to St Brigid's Parish Healesville. Today is both Fathers Day and the first day of Child Protection Week.
We are the parents and a teacher of two of the children abused by the two convicted paedophile priests of this parish. We request a meeting with you, in the very near future, to discuss the following important matters concerning the ongoing safety of the children of St Brigid's Parish and our diocese.
We ask that we be consulted, as well as independent, well-qualified child welfare professionals, in the development of a child safe environment policy that includes procedures and practices for the schools and parishes of this diocese. There should also be annual audits and regular reviews conducted by an independent body to ensure compliance - as is now the practice in many other dioceses around the world.
This would entail some discussion of the past. "We have to consider what was insufficient in our behaviour and how we can prevent, heal,reconcile."(Pope Benedict XVI)*
David Daniel (convicted 2000) and Paul Pavlou (convicted 2009) is on the sexual offenders register. Why they are still priests despite the fact that Pope Benedict XVI said that anyone "who is guilty of paedophilia cannot be a priest.'** ?
Will the Archdiocese take action to laicise priests convicted of sexual offences?
The crimes for which Paul Pavlou was convicted occurred just two years after his ordination. Obviously the archdiocese' discernment is not adequate. We'll do all that is possible to have a strong discernment,because it is more important to have good priests than to have many priests.(Pope Benedict XVI)***
How will screening for prospective priests in Melbourne be improved and continue to keep up with new developments in this field?
Despite many requests we have been refused a meeting to discuss these matters with Archbishop Hart.
We requested a parish meeting regarding these issues but were told that we were not allowed to meet on parish premises for anything other than 'a healing mass' during which there must be no discussion of anything that has happened in the past.
These responses have been very hurtful and seem to us to be less than 'Christ like'. We are hoping that your response may be a little more inline with the Pope's recent words "It is important to establish the truth of what happened in the past, to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent it from occurring again," (2009)
We have obtained diocese endorsed parish materials from the UK, US,Canada and Ireland as examples of policies, procedures and practices to provide child safe environments. We are keen to share these with any clergy, parish or school staff, parents or parishioners who wish to see them.
To mark the occasion today we have brought white balloons the Federal Governments endorsed symbol of Child Protection Week - for the children and copies of 'Child wise' 'Wise Up' booklets for their parents.
Maria Kirkwood, the diocese 'pastoral care' arm of the Melbourne Response has told people in the parish that to talk about what has happened is not in the best interest of victims. This is a fallacy.Victims deserve their complete anonymity but they need to safely hear our outrage. Those who have disclosed feel vindicated and those who have not yet disclosed can be encouraged to feel that it is safe to come forward if they know we are not afraid to hear the truth and will take steps to address what has contributed to their suffering.
Victims have told us that supportive letters in the newspapers and online have helped them and the deafening silence of their parish has confused, frustrated and infuriated them. In their compassion however they understand that most Catholics just do not know what to do or say or how to cope with the betrayal of trust.
In fact, all parishioners are victims of these crimes and it takes courage to face the truth and do the work necessary for reconciliation and healing.
We must all work together to ensure the safety of all of our children in the future.
We call on you, at this time in the history of St Brigid's to take up this opportunity to meet and listen to victims, their families and independent welfare professionals and enable St Brigid's to become a model of a child-safe parish for the Melbourne Archdiocese.
This should lead to necessary changes in the diocesan handling of such delicate situations as we have experienced here in this parish.
Yours sincerely
Parents and a teacher of two of the St Brigid's Parish victims
(Names supplied)
NO CHEERS IN THIS ONE
