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1. Kristina says in part 'it will be an incredible challenge for many Australian Catholics to continue to follow their faith within an organisation that would appear to have so grossly violated some of the most basic teachings of the Gospel.'
   I think we should clearly see the church as mainly composed of the people who follow Jesus Christ and not see the Catholic Clerical Institution as the whole church or even the main part.
   We should see ourselves as the main body of the church. We should therefore concentrate on being good followers of Jesus in concert with all our fellow Catholics.
   Get together with your fellow Catholic people in prayer and good works.
   At sometime or other, the Institutional Church will catch up but in the meantime let us keep our faith in Jesus and practice his teachings with our fellow Catholics.

   Posted By: Ken Fuller

2. There is nothing wrong with the teachings of the Catholic Church, although there is definitely much wrong with the way some of the clergy have abused their trust n position in perpetrating or covering up this serious crime.
   So I do not believe it should be difficult to continue to be members of the Catholic Church.
   After all, even Christ was betrayed by one of his chosen 12.
   Perhaps that was the way Christ was informing us that we can expect up to 8% of our clergy to betray Him.

   Posted By: Angelica

3. Yes, a difficult task to explain to children, particularly when there should have been zero offending by those who placed themselves on a high moral pedestal.
   A difficult task to get across to children the fact that Canon Law has manifestly failed in so many countries on so many counts including 1) to prevent the abuse 2) to effectively punish the perps and 3) to adequately heal and treat the victims with compassion.
   The image of priesthood, now in the remaking, has been one where priests have been members of an exclusive elite.
   Very difficult to be other than defensive, covering up, minimising the offenses, deflecting the blame elsewhere even to the point of blaming the victims.
   Perhaps the children will be able to draw their own conclusions as they grow older.

   Posted By: Graham

4. Sadly, the past attempts made by certain members of the Catholic Church hierarchy to conceal the truth has made it extremely difficult for many to follow their faith within the Australian Catholic Church.
   Trust will be restored only when the powers that be have the courage to make full, frank and open admissions that covering up the truth was wrong.

   Posted By: Pearson

5. Ken Fuller's response is very well crafted and exactly on track.
   No point in deserting the sinking ship - sinking because of the officers' errors - just man the bilges along with the other members of the loyal crew.
   My suggestion to Kristina is to tell her children the truth in a way which they can understand. Truth has been absent from this issue for far too long.
   Much has been said concerning the need for change in the institutional church and many regard it essential that change "comes from the top".
   I believe that change and reform will occur but from the bottom up.
   We, with Christ, are the Church.
   

   Posted By: Denis Harrington

6. Great response from Ken Fuller. I taught in a Catholic high school in PNG in the 1960s and a Franciscan Friar used to come into the classrooms every day and ask: Who is the Church? The students in full voice would respond: We are the Church;.
   What a great lesson that so many Catholics never really absorbed. The priests, in spite of their privileged position, are not 'the main body of the Church'. A strong boy's club indeed and many wonderful pastors and teachers among them, but we are the church ... Let us live in a way that makes that visible and change will come.
   And let us support the priests who are faithful because this is a difficult time for them all.
   

   Posted By: Noela Leamy

7. This is dangerous territory for a former state premier.
   A thorough inquiry would show that many other influential people have got away with similar offences for decades without the police ever acting...

   Posted By: Peter

8. Sexual abuse of the young, by priests and religious, has no doubt 'affected; the whole Church but it has not 'infected' the whole Church, far from it.
   This to my mind is clear, for one thing, in these past two weeks of Advent leading up to Christmas.
   Throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Perth, as an example, over these two weeks Advent communal rites of penance have been celebrated. Hundreds of priests have heard thousands of confessions and those who have confessed have expeienced spiritual forgivesness, healing, peace and joy for them a truly wonderful and genuine preparation for Christmas.
   The time given and the ministry offered by those priests has been freely given and freely received. This surely is a true reflection of the face of the Church, of what the church is essentially about, namely helping her members, out of love, along the sometimes difficult road, that is Christ, leading to eternal life and salvation, our ultimate hope. Horrible and damaging that it is, we must stand firm in faith and not allow the the cancerous tumour of sexual abuse on the body of the Church, caused by the few, destroy the true face of the Church which is the face of Christ.

   Posted By: John Flynn

9. I also am a father to a young man. I also cringe at the probable scandal that the Royal Commission will bring on the Church.
   It is my hope that it will not be hijacked by the lawyers and profiteers who see compensation as the only recourse for the victims {and a bit for me} mentality of our 'justice' system.
   But if the Church deserves scandalous truth then bring it on.
   A public year of penance should have been its call many years ago when I witnessed the loss of a generation. Five years of tribal sectarianism may be good for a church complacent in its bourgeois materialism.
   May the Holy Spirit be reborn in the Church thus purged. AMDG

   Posted By: Peter Gallagher

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