1.INTRODUCTION Most people who follow a Christian lifestyle are dedicated individuals of good, moral character. They are sincere in their beliefs and generally work for the betterment of everyone in society. However, there are also people involved in religious orders who, for reasons best known to themselves, use their positions of trust to molest and defile the most vulnerable individuals in our society - young children. Some of them have stooped so low as to have molested intellectually handicapped children. No-one wants to talk about these crimes because, for many of us, they are too horrific to believe and the gap from trusted spiritual leader to paedophile is just too difficult for many to traverse. So it is ignored. But these cases of child sex abuse, perpetrated by religious leaders, must be faced -- no matter how difficult that may be -- if we, as a society, are to reduce their number or, better yet, eradicate them altogether. From the research contained in this book, it is clear that a significant number of child sex abuse cases do involve clergy and church officials, though a far greater number of cases occur than are ever reported. However, the increasing number of cases that are reported serve to highlight what a massive problem this has become. Some have even called it an epidemic but one that has been brushed under the carpet. We ask you, the reader, to follow up this research with your own, and to discuss the problem with your family and friends. Above all else, find out what’s happening in your own community. Only then can you decide what to think about the sensitive and controversial issues of paedophile priests, the moral hypocrisy their actions engineer and the countless victims whose lives they destroy. This booklet is not designed to criticise religion or make judgments on the day to day lifestyles of church clergy. It is published in the hope that by acknowledging these events, perhaps more will be done to prevent their continued occurrence. THE NEED FOR AN OFFICIAL ENQUIRY Nearly 450 individual child sexual assaults by church clergy are referenced in this publication as having been dealt with by Australian courts in the short space of 10 years. This shows that, as a profession, the priesthood has lost its direction and has become a real danger to the community. The scale of this travesty is so great that only the highest level enquiry will get to the bottom of it. We ask for your help and support in encouraging the Federal Government to conduct a Royal Commission into child sexual abuse amongst church clergy and officials, immediately. We believe the terms of reference for such an inquiry should include the following: 1) An examination of the content and practice of training programs that church and clergy officials have undergone in the past and continue to do so in the present; 2) An examination of the effects, if any, that celibacy and sexual repression have upon child sex abuse; 3) The nature and extent of the church's cover up of child sexual abuse within its ranks; 4) The need to reassess current government assistance to church-based education and training programs that deal with children, including taxation and other breaks; and 5) The extent to which church leaders, who have presided over child sex abuse cases in their jurisdiction, have affected current censorship regimes that deal with child sexuality and sexual violence in general. < Back • Next >