Uncovering serious failings across institutions, an Australian inquiry into child abuse recommends the Catholic Church remove its requirement for celibacy
ADVERTISEMENTAn Australian inquiry into child abuse has recommended that the Catholic Church get rid of its requirement for celibacy from clergy and clarify the extent that the 'seal of the confession' applies to evidence of child abuse.
Uncovering serious failings across institutions, the report ended up 17-volumes long and includes 189 recommendations for action.
Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull praised the bravery of victims of abuse,
"I want to thank and honour the courage of the survivors and their families who've told, often for the first time, the dreadful stories of abuse that they received from people who actually owed them love and protection."
The report heard the testimonies of more than 8-thousand survivors of child sex abuse. Of those who were abused in religious institutions, 62 percent were Catholic.
Janetzki was a victim of the abuse,
"It's been a long hard slog, we started off with not being believed, people not wanting us to not talk about it. The churches and charities and institutions putting pressure on everyone not to believe us that we are lying, that it wasn't true and the Royal Commission enabled all of us to step up."
It's Australia's highest form of inquiry and since 2012, the investigation has been looking at how the Catholic Church and other institutions responded to sexual abuse of children over 90 years. It concluded that it was "not a case of a few rotten apples" and "we will never know the true number".