Next Monday the Royal Commission will start its final case study into the Catholic Church.
Ahead of this hearing the President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Denis Hart, has issued a message to Australian Catholics.
"In anticipation of these proceedings, it is important for bishops to help prepare the Catholic community for this hearing," Archbishop Hart has said.
"Next week's hearing will be a time of accountability and witness. Within the Catholic community, it will also be a time of prayer and of renewed commitment to safeguarding children."
The Archbishop of Brisbane, Mark Coleridge, has also released a video message which will be played at Masses across the Brisbane Archdiocese this weekend and will also be sent to all Brisbane Catholic Education school parents.
We are now less than a week away from the final hearing of the Catholic Church in this Royal Commission. At a time like this it can be too easy to forget the journey that has brought us to this point. Many courageous survivors have come forward to retell their stories or to reveal their ordeal for the first time. No doubt this was traumatizing and may have possibly plunged them into places of hurt and despondency. This has been a big price to pay in the interests of public knowledge and better child protection. We need to acknowledge this when the history of this Commission is told.
The Truth Justice and Healing Council has made a range of recommendations to the Royal Commission through submissions to its Issues Paper process.
The Catholic Church, again through the Truth Justice and Healing Council, has also developed guidelines for Church authorities in relation to issues of particular significance to survivors of child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.
And over the past four years many diocese and congregations have made significant changes to the way they respond to child sexual abuse survivors and the way in which they keep children safe in their schools, hospitals, social services and parishes.
Tasmanian Children's Commissioner calls for out-of-home care reforms
On Tuesday this week, the Tasmanian Commissioner for Children and Young People Mark Morrissey released seven recommendations to the state government to improve the experience and outcomes for children in OOHC
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