A statement from President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, regarding the Christopher Saunders case.
The crimes of abuse of which the former bishop of Broome, Christopher Saunders, has been found guilty following a jury verdict in the District Court of Western Australia represent a betrayal of everything the gospel and the Catholic Church stand for.
They are a violation of the human dignity of victims and survivors and a complete betrayal of their trust: these crimes deserve the strongest condemnation.
As Bishop Tim Norton, the current bishop of Broome, has said in his pastoral letter, those whose bravery enabled them to come forward to expose these crimes – the victims, the survivors and other witnesses – have shown great courage, commitment and resilience through a long and difficult process. The Catholic community in Broome, and more widely in Western Australia and the rest of our nation, owes them a great debt of gratitude.
While the horrors of abuse occur in secret, it is the courage of those who bring these horrors into the open which enables accountability and, through that accountability, the beginning of healing.
The persistence of the Western Australia Police Force in pursuing this matter has also been a key element in bringing this matter to trial and opening up the possibility for healing to begin.
The bishops of Australia join Bishop Norton in his apology to all those who have been a part of this terrible story. Standing beside him, we too “are deeply sorry for the hurt they have experienced. We are sorry for the shame they have endured. We are sorry that it has taken so long for their voices to be heard and for their pain to be acknowledged. We will do all we can to reach out to them for hope and healing”.
The crimes of which Christopher Saunders has been found guilty are offences against both the civil law and the law of the Church.
The criminal penalties will be determined by the presiding judge and announced at the sentencing hearing.
The Church’s own legal processes, necessarily suspended once the police investigation had begun, continued when the police indicated they were not in a position to proceed.
These processes were suspended again once the police, partly on the basis of the Church’s investigations which were made available to them, were able to re-instate their formal enquiries.
With the conclusion of the trial the Church’s investigation can now recommence. Decisions about the position of the former bishop of Broome in the Church will therefore be determined by Rome.
At the local level practical decisions about future financial and other support will be made by the Broome Diocese and informed by the outcome of the proceedings in Rome.
Given the many failures of leaders and other members of the Church in the past, and tragically as we now realise still today, it is important that the Church continue to follow clear protocols.
Among these protocols is that of ensuring that complaints against bishops and other senior Church leaders are managed not by other bishops but by independent bodies. This is to avoid any possibility of “in-house” (and potentially biased) investigations.
A second fundamental protocol is that of temporarily suspending any Church investigations while formal police enquiries are taking place. This is to avoid any possibility of Church actions interfering with or compromising the integrity of the police investigations. Church authorities in Western Australia cooperated fully with the police throughout this long process.
These two related protocols have been followed in relation to the Saunders case. The intention was always to allow the allegations against the former bishop to be dealt with objectively and transparently, and independently of the Church. This has now been achieved.
In his pastoral letter Bishop Norton asks some important questions: “How could such a proud, caring and determined diocese that features such remarkable communities and people be home to such a betrayal of trust? How could our diocesan leadership be involved in such heartless events?”
These are questions not just for the diocese of Broome but for all of us in the Church in Australia.
It is distressing, demoralising and humbling that in the Church in Australia we are still being confronted by such dreadful failures and still being challenged by such probing questions. We must never think that the sexual abuse crisis is somehow behind us.
We must never relax our vigilance or lower our expectations in relation to safeguarding. There is still much to do.