As the headlines continue to swirl around the Catholic Church in Australia it is a distressing time for both victims of abuse and also for regular Catholics who have been rocked by one scandal after another for years.

We often hear the phrase that these years of crisis and shame have led to a “humbler” Church and lately I’ve been wondering what that humbler Church might look like in practice.

The SVD AUS Province has begun the work involved in joining the National Redress Scheme to support survivors of abuse by Church personnel, as part of its ongoing commitment to professional standards and safeguarding.

Fr Michael Hardie SVD, the Professional Standards Coordinator for the Province, has moved from Melbourne to the Provincial administrative centre in Marsfield, Sydney to take carriage of the work.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has today given its final report to the Governor General. Many of the findings and recommendations will have significant impact on the way the Catholic Church operates in Australia.

“We acknowledge with gratitude the courage of all those survivors who have come forward to the Royal Commission,” Sr Ruth Durick OSU, President of Catholic Religious Australia said.

As the Royal Commission wraps up its hearings into the Catholic Church’s response to child sexual abuse, the SVD Provincial, Fr Henry Adler, has recommitted the Province to safe ministry and to continuing to provide support and pastoral care to all affected.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse completed its hearings of Case Study 50, known as the Catholic ‘wrap-up’ last week, after three weeks in which the overall extent of abuse by Church personnel over several decades was laid bare in statistics which were described as “tragic and indefensible”.