Youth Against World Youth Day

Tag: australia
PRESS RELEASE -

Church abuse awareness groups to attend rally at Parliament House

Pam Krstic of HEAR (Healesville Education and Awareness Raising), a group working towards safety of children regarding clergy misconduct and sexual abuse, has been added to the list of speakers addressing the Youth Against World Youth Day rally, at the steps of Parliament House this Sunday, July 13.

The rally plans to address a range of topics relevant in the lead up to WYD, from erroneous NSW government spending and new laws hindering protest efforts, to the Pope�s attitude towards women, gays and condoms. A number of organiations that deal with church abuse of children, including Broken Rites and In Good Faith and Associates have come on board to endorse the rally.

�What a fantastic opportunity we have here in Melbourne, as the first city to commence actions without the draconian laws inhibiting our freedom of speech� mentioned Jason Ball, spokesperson for the rally.

Ms Krstic will be asking why the Catholic Church is allowed to investigate crimes behind closed doors without any public accountability. �Victims of clergy sexual abuse were silenced by the offender, have been further silenced by the Church since then, and now the NSW government is silencing them� said Ms Krstic.

Many of these organisations have been protesting outside St Patrick�s Cathedral on a weekly basis leading up to the rally, seeking restorative meetings with the Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart.

Helen Last of In Good Faith and Associates explained; �He came out last week and turned his back on us. He said he would pray for us but it�s too late for prayers, it�s time for proper protective action for children.�

Chirs MacIaac of Broken Rites is calling for an apology to victims of church sexual abuse from the Pope during his visit for WYD. �What we want is a proper apology, not just a �motherhood� statement within a homily.�

Ms Last added; �The Pope has promised there will be a big pastoral engagement and we�re not seeing any of it and haven�t seen any of it for 10 years.�

A spokesman for Archbishop Hart said he had no plans to meet victims of clergy sexual abuse.


Tag: pam-krstic
Tag: jason-ball
Tag: denis-hart
Tag: chirs-maciaac

Tag: healesville-education-and-awareness-raising
Tag: st-patricks-cathedral
Tag: world-youth-day
Tag: broken-rites

http://youthagainstwyd.org

for more information, statements or interviews contact

Jason Ball (spokesperson Youth Against World Youth Day rally)
0407781406

Pam Krstic (HEAR)
0410 859 059;

Helen Last (In Good Faith and Associates)
9326 5991

Chris MacIsaac (Broken Rites)
9457 4999

http://youthagainstwyd.org/