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> Sex Abuse: Put House in Order, Anglicans Told Sex Abuse: Put House in Order, Anglicans Told A Major report into the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide, compiled by Melbourne relationships specialist Dr Zoe Morrison, has found child abuse by the clergy still is under-reported and adult sexual assault is not being addressed at all. The report says the under-reporting of child abuse is not surprising given a "church culture in the immediate past that actively discouraged and even threatened clergy for reporting abuse". According to Dr Morrison, there still exists a culture whereby reporting child abuse to authorities is viewed as conflicting with pastoral concerns of confidentiality. The report examined the knowledge, understanding, commitment and attitudes of clergy and church workers to reporting child abuse and responding to adult sexual assault. It states that when surveyed, 46 per cent of clergy said they had not reported suspicions of abuse. Dr Morrison attributed this reluctance to, among other things, “… a perceived conflict between pastoral duties and keeping confidences and also a previous culture within the church which discouraged reporting and, in fact, mitigated against reporting". Come Clean Call Steven Fisher, of the Tasmanian support group Survivors Investigating Child Sexual Abuse (SICSA) has called on the new leader of the Anglican Church in Australia, Archbishop Phillip Aspinall, to come clean on pedophilia within the clergy. Mr Fisher claimed that Archbishop Aspinall had been a close associate of clergymen in the 1980s who had since been jailed for pedophilia. Abusive priests allowed to stay on The Catholic archdiocese of Los Angeles has released detailed records showing it was often warned that priests were sexually abusing children, but allowed them to continue their ministry. The records relate to 245 priests who served over the past 73 years and show how the embattled archdiocese dealt with the scandal that has led to hundreds of lawsuits against it. In cases yet to come to trial, the Los Angeles area has 126 priests accused of sexual misconduct, while more than 500 alleged victims have filed civil suit against the archdiocese. Notorious Pedophile Anglican priest Robert Ellmore, who is serving an 11-year jail term for the indecent assault of an eight-year-old girl more than 20 years ago, has been described as a “sex monster” and is considered to be one of NSW’s most notorious pedophiles. Ellmore’s appalling crimes, committed between 1957 and 2001, include: • aggravated assault of 10 year old girl; Despite his dark past, the former panel beater and father-of-two was made a deacon after two years' study at St John's Theological College at Morpeth in the Hunter Valley, in 1976. Church ignored abuse The Anglican Church in Adelaide took no action against a priest Raymond Frederick Ayles, 61, who wrote love letters to a teenage boy he was sexually abusing, the District Court has heard. Police were not notified by church officials about the sexual abuse, despite the priest allegedly sending a written confession to the boy's parents after they intercepted one of his love letters, the court was told. Ayles was in charge of St Augustine's Anglican Church, Para Hills, in 1972 when he allegedly began a homosexual relationship with a 12 year old member of his church youth group. The relationship allegedly involved sexual activity in the parish house occupied by Ayles, a priest training facility at Crafers, on camping trips to the Flinders Ranges and on a trip to the Northern Territory. Bad news for church pews Child-sex scandals deter devotion According to Sydney's Anglican Archbishop, Dr Peter Jensen, Australians are unwilling' to commit to religion and have also been turned off the church by child sexual abuse scandals and cover-ups. Ironically, the Archbishop also believes that for those disenchanted with religion, accepting Christ would mean a totally unacceptable and unimaginable restriction on people’s moral freedom. |
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