At St Alipius cathlolic school alone, some 40 victims of child sexual abuse have since killed themselves.
And, perhaps, for the first time the Catholic Church will be held accountable...
Pedophile [priests] Gerald Ridsdale and Paul David Ryan were moved from parish to parish despite knowing they were child abusers, Bishop Connors told the Victorian inquiry into how the churches handled child sexual abuse
Men who vowed to lead and protect their congregations threw the most vulnerable among them to the wolves, pretecting instead the institution, themselves, their fellow priests, and above all their coffers.
The Catholic Church in Ballarat ''effectively facilitated'' child sexual abuse by leaving known paedophiles in ministry and was ''un-Christlike'', former Ballarat Bishop Peter Connors conceded on Monday.
His predecessor, Bishop Ronald Mulkearns, made ''terrible errors'' and showed ''great naivety'' in moving paedophiles Gerald Ridsdale and Paul David Ryan from parish to parish.
Money & Power more important than innocent children
The playbook in 1992 was
1. Avoid scandal
2. Protect Priests
3. Admit nothing
4. Oh yeah - now about those victims...
''We were listening to insurers and lawyers, who said 'admit nothing'.''
~Bishop Connors
As reported previously, Australia has launched an investigation into the pervasiveness of child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. In Tree Climbers: Although Found Guilty on 21 counts, including the rape of a 9 y/o disabled boy... this culture of denial and complete and utter disregard for victims is apparently across all factions of the Church:
Absolutely no sympathy for victims
Not only do these "Chrstian Brothers" deny that one of their own is a pedophile (even though he was convicted, even though he plead GUILTY), they show a glaring lack of any sympathy or empathy for the children who were abused by this predatory pedophile priest.
Brother Barry Coldrey told the parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child abuse that he was not a spokesman for any religion. But he said he believed that a culture of denial still pervaded the Christian Brothers order in Australia.
Dr. Coldrey told the inquiry that the order had little sympathy for victims of sexual abuse.
"At the moment, the mood is sullen, angry and certainly little sympathy is expressed for victims," he said.
"No one ever won an election in the Christian Brothers by expressing sympathy for victims."
Father Girard Ridsdale
Of the 116 claims of child abuse, the diocese has accepted 107. 67 of those 107 cases of child sexual abuse were by Father Girard Ridsdale. But he could have been stopped 38 years ago...
Father Ridsdale back then
In 1975 police told Bishop Mulkearns of complaints against Ridsdale, but he was moved to other parishes and went on to abuse other children
And today
Disgraced former Catholic priest Gerald Ridsdale leaves the Melbourne Magistrates Court, date unknown. Picture: Peter Ward
Will continue following and updating this story as the inquiry continues.