Australia's most senior Catholic cleric on Monday apologised to those
who "suffered at the hands" of priests and religious teachers, in a
Christmas message issued after a turbulent year for the Church.
In
the video message broadcast on television, Sydney Archbishop George
Pell said he was shocked and ashamed, following a series of paedophile
allegations against priests and claims they were hushed up.
Pell
said his heart went out to "all those who cannot find peace at this
time, especially those who have suffered at the hands of fellow
Christians, Christian officials, priests, religious teachers".
"I am deeply sorry this has happened," he added.
"I feel too the shock and shame across the community at these revelations of wrongdoing and crimes."
Without specifically mentioning child sex abuse, Pell said the hurt caused was "completely contrary" to Christ's teachings.
"We need our faith in God's goodness and love to cope with these disasters, to help those who have been hurt," he said.
Prime
Minister Julia Gillard last month ended more than a decade of growing
pressure by ordering a royal commission to investigate the responses of
all religious organisations, schools and state care to allegations of
abuse.
Her announcement came after a senior police investigator
claimed the Church had covered up sexual abuse of children in the Hunter
Valley, north of Sydney, to protect paedophiles and its own reputation.
The
government in Victoria state is already investigating allegations of
sex abuse by the clergy, with the Church telling a state parliamentary
hearing in September that at least 620 children had been abused since
the 1930s.
When Gillard announced the royal commission, Pell
welcomed it as an opportunity to help victims, "clear the air" and
"separate fact from fiction".
"We are not interested in denying the extent of misdoing in the Catholic Church," he said at the time.
"We
object to it being exaggerated, we object to being described as the
only cab on the rank. I don't think we should be scapegoated."
Pell's
Christmas message drew mixed reactions from victim support groups, with
some saying it represented a "major shift" in the Church's position
while others said it did not go far enough.
"It's pleasing that
he's opening up his heart to these people," Wayne Chamley, a spokesman
for victims support group Broken Rites, told ABC television.
"They
seem to now appreciate the scale of it. I don't think we've seen a
statement in the past which was reflecting on the scale of what's gone
on."
But Adults Surviving Child Abuse president Cathy Kezelman called it "an absolutely minimal response to express regret".
"It's
very important that we also acknowledge the failure of religious
organisations, including the Catholic Church, to respond appropriately
to victims," she said.
"To have that ultimate betrayal by someone not only you should trust but is meant to be setting a moral compass."
Gillard
has refused to put a deadline on the royal commission, but said the
government had taken the first steps towards shaping the terms of
reference.
Child sex abuse allegations have rattled the Catholic
Church across the world, particularly in Ireland but also in the United
States, Germany and Belgium.
