The torment and turmoil of the past 20 to 30 years has made it very clear cultural change will not be an initiative of the Vatican, but rather an initiative of grassroots Catholic communities and the influence of outside forces such as public inquiries like the current Royal Commission. The church hierarchy has never before endured such deep and public scrutiny. Its collective response has been abymsmal and it appears to be imploding. My personal experience as a victim advocate has brought many defining moments and unwished for consequences. However, one of the more enlightening consequences, or revelations, has been to unravel the human being living within the robes of Ballarat Diocesan bishop Ronald Mulkearns. My personal visits to this man in the mid-1990s left me feeling that some unfathomable element was at play. I could see his genuine distress but publicly he was aloof and impartial and made decisions to move paedophile priests around the Ballarat Diocese, thus facilitating the destruction of hundreds of young lives. I concluded that this distress was due to his leadership style mixed with complex relations with his priests. However, I now believe I understand the source of this distress more clearly, and because Ronald Mulkearns is a very sick man, I don't wish him to pass from this world being a scapegoat for the church.

In Potiphar's Wife Keiran Tapsell writes that  “in response to the Murphy Dublin Report 2009, Pope Benedict XVI's Pastoral Letter to the People of Ireland in 2010 made no mention of the role of canon law in the cover up”. In fact he blamed the Irish bishops for their “misplaced concern for the reputation of the church and the avoidance of scandal, resulting in failure to apply existing canonical penalties”. One Irish bishop reportedly stated “How dare he blame us. Show me where we didn't follow canon law. Canon law was the problem” (p289-94). There is no doubt that, as diocesan bishop, Ronald Mulkearns erred on the side of evil, and general community opinion does not hold him in high esteem. However, the revelation is that this man was torn between administering Canon Law and being human. Between 1971 and 1997 while children fell victim to evil, this bishop, and the bishop before him, chose the laws of the Vatican over human rights of the child. The Victorian Parliamentary Enquiry Report concluded “the evidence showed that Mulkearns had dealt with complaints of sexual abuse in the strictest confidentiality and had destroyed documents in accordance with the policy laid down by the Vatican's Crimen Sollicitationis”, the full document, one of many, including 1983 Code of Canon Law, available on the internet to all discerning Catholics who wish to find the truth driving this era of evil. Bishop Ronald Mulkearns did exactly what his leader, the pope, required through Canon Law. And that was to administer pastoral care, not to the child, but to the paedophile priest.

Ann Ryan, Warrnambool

The State Government has invested $3.2 million towards attracting, recruiting and retaining more carers to tackle Victoria’s shortfall of more than 300 foster carers each year. Carers are sorely needed to help care for children and young people who cannot live with their families. We want more residents to join our amazing foster carers who open their hearts and homes to children in need - if you have ever thought about becoming a foster carer, now is the time. 

Gayle Tierney, Western Victoria MP