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Victims' Stories (listen and read)
Sylvia's Story
When will the other churches come to the party? Why are they silent and letting
the Catholics take all the heat? Aged 17 I was groomed and assaulted by an
Anglican church official. Nearly 14 years after I first complained, they are
still telling me to go away. In 1997, they said I had to withdraw my complaint
from the Police before they would investigate. Then they said "he didn't do it"
and told me to go away. Then after continued pressure, they appointed a
barrister who said my complaint was substantiated. Then they fired the
perpetrator and told me to go away. Although they magnanimously paid for some
counselling, they have never once apologised or taken responsibility for the
destruction of my childhood. They say at 17 I should have known better. But I
had only just turned 17 and was a school leaver. I had never even seen a male
unclothed before he exposed himself to me in the cathedral organ loft. I am
still waiting for any form of justice. This is despite a memo obtained from the
Diocesan office that detailed his molestation of a 12 year old in the 1950s!
CLICK HERE for the rest of the story
Interview with Nicky Davis
MICHAEL EDWARDS (ABC News PM): A gloomy sky and rain provide a sombre backdrop for Nicky Davis
as she visits St Anthony in the Fields Church for the first time in decades.
As a child she attended mass at the parish, which is located in Terrey
Hills, a suburb north of Sydney.
NICKY DAVIS: It's certainly extremely
uncomfortable. It's not a place I ever want to be. I'm trying not to go down the
path of remembering the abuse itself but there's also lots of feelings of how
badly I was treated.
MICHAEL EDWARDS (ABC News PM): Nicky Davis says that she was
abused by a member of the Passionist Order, Vincent Crawford, or Brother Brendan
as he was then known. Looking inside the church she recalls attending
mass there as a young girl. She says her memories of Brother Brendan are
terrifying. ... CLICK HERE for the rest of the story .................... CLICK HERE for Nicky's letter to Pope Benedict relating her story and struggles.
Noreen Wood's Story
It has taken most of her life to discover, but Noreen Wood knows now she is a
fighter. Like most victims of sexual abuse, she has many needs - financial,
physical and emotional - but the most urgent, the one that drives her even when
she feels that tackling the Catholic Church is like tilting at windmills, is for
the truth to be heard and acknowledged. CLICK HERE for the rest of the story................CLICK HERE for Related story
Betty (Payne) Millar's Story
One August evening in l947, nine-year-old Betty Millar (then Betty Payne) was
called into the school hall of St Anthony's orphanage in Feltham, Middlesex,
where she lived with 70 or so other children. Betty noticed that some of the
home's young charges were puzzlingly absent. Without any preamble, the missing
girls were brought in and the head of the orphanage announced these children had
been picked to go and live in Australia, sailing the following day. Some of the
children who had been picked had led such sheltered lives they thought Australia
was a coastal resort in Britain, where they were going for a day trip.
CLICK HERE for the rest of the story
Victim of Denis McAlinden's Story
A
NEWCASTLE woman, whose statement to future Catholic Archbishop Philip
Wilson about pedophile priest Denis McAlinden prompted an attempted
secret defrocking of McAlinden in 1995, has lodged a formal complaint
with police. "On behalf of all of the victims of Denis McAlinden, I am
seeking justice," the woman wrote to Lake Macquarie Detective Inspector
Dave Waddell yesterday. CLICK HERE for the rest of the story
Michelle Goldsmith's Story
ONE of Victoria's most senior Catholic figures, Bendigo's Bishop Joseph
Grech, broke church rules by leaking an abuse complainant's details, and
allegedly described her as ''crazy''. Bishop Grech was forced to write a letter of apology to Eaglehawk resident
Michelle Goldsmith after an internal church inquiry headed by a senior Catholic
cleric. Bishop Grech breached the confidentiality designed to protect a clerical
abuse victim when he spoke about Mrs Goldsmith with the former Eaglehawk parish
president. ... CLICK HERE for the rest of the story
Michael Rounce's Story
More
than 30 years ago Mary and Mike Rounce told Catholic Bishop Leo Clarke
of their concerns about priest and St Pius X teacher John Denham and
his behaviour with their son Michael. On Friday in Sydney District
Court Judge Helen Syme sentenced former Hunter paedophile priest John
Denham to jail until at least June 2022. Today the Rounces will tell
Maitland Newcastle Bishop Michael Malone how Bishop Clarke’s failure to
act, along with many others including St Pius X principal Tom Brennan,
contributed to Michael’s death. ... CLICK HERE for the rest of the story
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