Bishop‘s claim: Church had no prior knowledge
Priest pleads guilty to abuse

Father Adrian Van Klooster pleaded guilty in Bunbury Court this week to charges of having abused children in the parish.
  He was remanded for sentence to the next sittings of the circuit court, in May.
  The Bishop of Fr Van Klooster's diocese in Bunbury, Bishop Gerard Holohan, said he and the community of priests in the diocese were saddened and shocked.
  Bishop Holohan said it was clear the offences were a violation of the ideals of the Catholic priesthood.
[Picture of man wearing mitre and glasses, holding crosier]
Bishop Holohan

  They also violated the professional standards of Catholic clergy and religious in Australia as outlined in the Integrity in Ministry document -- the official Church handbook of principles for public life and ministry.
  He said: "I am distressed that children have been innocent victims of crimes by a Catholic priest.
  "The period since the charges were laid has been a trying one for many people, but especially for the families of the victims.
  "I express my deepest sorrow to the victims and their families."

  Bishop Holohan said the Church first became aware that Fr Van Klooster had been involved in behaviour of this nature on February 21, 2002, when he was arrested and charged.
  Prior to his arrest, the Church had not received any complaint or suggestion of this kind of behaviour.
  Bishop Holohan added that bishops from other diocese[s] where Fr Van Klooster has worked have reassured him there had been no complaints or even the slightest hint of this kind of behaviour.
  He said: "Once again, my hope is that people will be fair-minded and not make negative judgments about the thousands of faithful priests because of these events.
  "The priests of our Bunbury Diocese continue to give their lives in service to others, often in relatively isolated and physically difficult situations.
  "They serve people of all ages -- the sick, the troubled and the distressed, the dying and their families, those preparing for marriage, seafarers and many others.
  "May the services of the overwhelming majority of priests not be forgotten because of the offences of a few," Bishop Holohan said.
The Record, Perth West. Aust., "Priest pleads guilty to abuse," January 23 2003, p 2
© The Record, Perth, at www.therecord.com.au
587 Newcastle St (near Loftus St), West Perth, WA, 6005;   P.O. Box 75, Leederville, WA, 6902, Australia, Tel. 08 9227 7080, Fax 9227 7087, cathrec@iinet.net.au

BISHOP HOLOHAN AVOIDS WORD ‘SIN’ WHEN DISCUSSING TRAVELLING PAEDOPHILE VAN KLOOSTER

COMMENT: I wasn't satisfied with Bunbury Catholic Bishop Gerard Holohan's response to the child sex offences of a priest under his supervision, Adrian John Van Klooster, of Leschenault, as reported in The Record of January 23.
  Old-fashioned Christians ought to look at paragraphs 4 and 5 -- not a mention of "sin" at all! In spite of the constant use of the word "sin" in religious writings, our modern Catholics might not need that concept!
  Look again at the first paragraph. Bishop Holohan avoids using the word "sex" or "indecent," but he does say they were children "in the parish." Yet he doesn't say that the priest had won the confidence of the mother of one lot of children so completely that she had told him of her family's history of child sex abuse, and he had reassured her that she could "break this cycle". It was, therefore, a betrayal outside the ordinary.
  Par 5, Integrity in Ministry document is said to be the official Church handbook of principles. Well, I'll bet it's only a creation of the Australian bishops or their staff, liable to be overturned by some Vatican official or some other pronouncements from on high. And, also, able to be defied or overlooked by any bishop who wants to do so, without penalty, as the U.S. bishops did with their agreed policies since 1985 -- that's a long time ago.
  For a potted history of this document and Towards Healing, read Barry M Coldrey's Religious Life Without Integrity: The Sexual Abuse Crisis in the Catholic Church, 2001, which is an insider's view of the cesspit. Buy it, or see http://www.thelinkup.com/integrity2.html . But why do we need such documents? Has something gone wrong with the selection, training and disciplining of the clergy? Didn't the Ten Commandments and the sayings of Christ cover these sins when we were very young?
  Look at pars 9 and 10 -- don't they have a familiar ring! We didn't know!! Yes, the United States and British bishops who moved serial child-abusers from place to place said the same sort of thing, until the courts prised the documents out of their archives, and until court records in various places were compared by brave prosecutors, parents, researchers and journalists! Courageous priests, brothers, and nuns who "blew the whistle" were downgraded and/or dismissed, some leaving in disgust when no reforms were made. One in Australia was found hanged, his files on abusers mysteriously missing. Bishops had even deceived other bishops and clergy by issuing letters of commendation as they moved the criminals to other places.
  And those bishops, too, don't seem to be depressed or impressed by notions of "sin" or "guilt". For example, Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston in his "apologies" has not really admitted that he told lies and was deceiving and harming the people, and that he ought to give up the position of cardinal. It's a big turnaround from the days when children were scared with notions of "scandal" leading to thousands of sins till the end of the world, the necessity of "avoiding the dangerous occasions of sin," hellfire and the absolute necessity of the redeeming death and resurrection!
  Is there any other reason for having a "low confidence" in His Lordship's protestations? Yes, because on September 5 2002 his statement was published, including: "The Church like other authorities lacked insight in earlier times in the effect of sex abuse on victims, and the psychology of offenders. Mistakes then were because of that lack of insight." ("A hurt and betrayal felt by all Catholics," The Record, September 5 2002, p 2.) Mistakes? What mistakes? Is it possible that the withdrawal of 12 charges was of more importance than a casual observer might think?
  But, anyway, this favourite "cop-out" of lacking "insight" (or "understanding" as some bishops give it, quite forgetting that they were supposed to have received that at their Confirmation and Ordination) has been wearing thin for years, at least since 1985 when the entire U.S. hierarchy received a warning report by solicitor F.R.Mouton, Church law expert Father T.P.Doyle, and Father M.Peterson. Read about it at www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/top/features/documents/ 01847612.htm . That same year the U.S. National Catholic Reporter explained the huge risk of employing and retaining criminal child abusers as priests, including the possibility of losing insurance cover, in several articles in the issue of June 7 1985. About 2002 somebody put it on the internet, at http://www.natcath.org/crisis/070585b.htm .
  That magazine thought there was an immense crisis (compare it with these days!) and that the bishops weren't doing anything. To try and awaken the bishops and the Catholic readers, the magazine published the name of every proven priest child abuser. But evidently it didn't awaken the bishops -- or the potential offenders.
  Doling out "hush money" at a niggardly rate is about all that the Australian hierarchy has done in the years since them. Surely the collegiality of bishops would mean that Church leaders here would know of those 1985 warnings? All Church leaders ought to read the well-researched Sipe Report, possibly of 1996, at http://www.thelinkup.com/sipe.html .
  As for the Church, supposedly 2000 years old, not understanding the "psychology of offenders," the Apostles did, and not one of them went to University! Risk looking at that dangerous Protestant and Orthodox tool, the Bible, at Matthew 18:6-8, Mark 9:42, and Luke 17:2, trying to analyse how to apply the teaching of cutting off a scandalising hand. (Hint: "hands" could mean employees in the 19th and 20th century.) Then read Matthew 12:32 and Hebrews 6:4-6, which don't figure in the official sermon books, but surely suit the cases of the paedophile priests! -- FAITH PURIFICATION PROGRAMME, Jan 25 2003
Handballing child-abusers? Don't! Read http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/nonmarital.htm
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Van Klooster knew mother's secret  ^ ^  Bravehearts  READINGS 8  Overview  Books  Outreach  v v  Poynter Tracker Jan 26 03


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