The Church's handling of sexual abuse claims has been back in the media spotlight. Following the 4 Corners program 'Unholy Silence' which exposed the dastardly deeds of 'Fr F' in the diocese of Armidale during the 1980s, the bishops of Armidale and Parramatta, seeking to be completely transparent, have appointed a respected lawyer, Tony Whitlam QC, to conduct an inquiry into the Church response to Fr F.
The inquiry will focus on a meeting of Fr F with the 'Australian Catholic Bishops Special Issues Resource Committee' on 3 September 1992, and its aftermath. It will be up to Mr Whitlam to chase the paper trail and presumably interview all persons involved in the 1992 meeting. Twenty years on, recollections may well be hazy and varied, but that is not surprising.
The Judicial Vicar of the Diocese of Armidale was in attendance at that 1992 meeting and provided the bishop of Armidale with a detailed report a week later which is at variance with 'the file note of that meeting' referred to by Cardinal Pell on 4 Corners. The Archdiocese of Sydney has described the Judicial Vicar's report as 'a private report' and referred to 'notes of the meeting held by the Church's Professional Standards Office' but says that 'any official record of the meeting would be with the Armidale diocese'.
The appointment of a respected independent lawyer with no Catholic Church affiliation is the best means of ensuring that no stone is left unturned in revealing whatever can now be known about the case of Fr F. The NSW Police have also announced their own inquiry.
Even the Church's harshest critics need to remember that this case arose before the Church set up the Towards Healing protocol in 1996. That protocol was comprehensively revised and fine tuned in 2000 and again in 2010. A bishop receiving complaints about Fr F today would have far better processes available to him.
Also the church authorities would work closely with any child's parents who brought a complaint to the bishop helping and encouraging them to go to the police. If a victim came forward years later making a complaint today as an adult, the church authorities would continue with their own processes only if