Thursday, January 20, 2005
ARCHBISHOP'S OFFICES RAIDED BY POLICE
From the Courier Mail:
DETECTIVES investigating a sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church raided the offices of the Archbishop of Sydney.
Letters between Archbishop George Pell and a young man abused by a priest 20 years ago were seized.
The police raid came to light yesterday as the priest, Terence Norman Goodall, admitted sex crimes.
The victim, speaking exclusively to The Daily Telegraph, last night said: "What this priest did was destroy my trust in faith, my trust in religion, and my once deep commitment to God."
The victim in this instance was not a minor at the time of the alleged abuse. He was 29 years old. As the story unfolds in the article, it appears that the charge against the priest who committed whatever action may have been committed robbed the litigant of his faith. Is that a crime in Australia?
I couldn't help but notice the "Mr." Pell in the story. Archbishop Pell stepped down during an investigation into sexual abuse that implicated him. Has he not resumed office, or is this a slap in the face of the Church by the Australian press? This story, if accurate, seems to present a new attitude on the part of society in regard to Catholic clergy.
