HomePress ReleasesMelbourne archbishop reports on church plans to compensate abuse victims

Melbourne archbishop reports on church plans to compensate abuse victims

Published on

spot_img

The Anglican Church in Victoria is working on its own corporation to respond to child sexual abuse victims and help survivors obtain redress.

Melbourne Anglican Archbishop Philip Freier on 14 Oct 2015 told the Melbourne Synod, or parliament, the yet to be named company would provide a best-practice process, independent of any diocese.

Being designed by a working group led by Bendigo Bishop Andrew Curnow, the planned company was in part a response to the Royal Commission on Child Sexual Abuse, was the most advanced in Australia and would be valuable to the national church, he said.

Dr Freier, who is metropolitan archbishop of the Victorian dioceses – Melbourne, Ballarat, Bendigo, Wangaratta and Gippsland – said the Royal Commission has told the church it will hold a public hearing in January into complaints and redress procedures in Anglican dioceses.

Giving his address to the synod – an annual gathering of several hundred clergy and laypeople meeting in St Paul’s Cathedral until Saturday – Dr Freier also criticised the State Government for eliminating special religious instruction in school class-time without consultation.

He said the church was in uncharted territory in dealing with the government. It was remarkable that the government acted without consultation, and even more remarkable that it announced the move as a passing reference in a media release about respectful relationships education.

He also called for proper recognition of the 30,000 Aboriginal people who died defending their land in frontier wars during European settlement. “I look forward to the day when we can make a proper recognition of their heroism and love for this land by a suitable commemoration.” The whole synod address can be read here.

Latest articles

Open Letter re Auditing and Governance of Safeguarding in the Church of England

Mr. Martin Sewell, 8 Appleshaw Close, Gravesend, Kent, DA11 7PB To:     Marsha De Cordova MP,...

Professor Grant Macaskill appointed as new Lightfoot Professor of Divinity

We welcome Professor Grant Macaskill to our University as our new Lightfoot Professor of...

Murdered Israeli embassy staffers were active Episcopalians, reports DC parish

Two staffers at the Israeli embassy in Washington were shot to death by a...

Megachurch geography: Why America’s largest churches thrive where they do

There’s an inherent tension between the world of religion and the field of social...

Antisemitic Attack Kills Messianic Jewish Bridge-Builder

The Story: Two Israeli embassy staffers—including one who was a Christian—were killed outside the Capital...

More like this

Open Letter re Auditing and Governance of Safeguarding in the Church of England

Mr. Martin Sewell, 8 Appleshaw Close, Gravesend, Kent, DA11 7PB To:     Marsha De Cordova MP,...

Professor Grant Macaskill appointed as new Lightfoot Professor of Divinity

We welcome Professor Grant Macaskill to our University as our new Lightfoot Professor of...

Murdered Israeli embassy staffers were active Episcopalians, reports DC parish

Two staffers at the Israeli embassy in Washington were shot to death by a...