Church admits abuse victims silenced

Archbishop of Sydney George Pell has promised to review all compensation files in his archdiocese

SYDNEY, Australia -- The Catholic Church in Australia has admitted that some victims of sex abuse have been silenced by confidentiality clauses in compensation agreements.

A lawyer speaking on behalf of Sydney Archbishop George Pell said Monday that investigations had revealed that the church had maintained clauses that forced sex abuse victims who accepted compensation to keep quiet about their experiences.

The church claims the secrecy clauses were included in error, while Pell, who has repeatedly denied allegations over the past two weeks of hush money payments to sex abuse victims, has said he will review all files under his Archdiocese.

President of the guild of Catholic lawyers, John McCarthy QC, confirmed that some bishops had signed agreements which included secrecy clauses, saying the clauses were "unnoticed and unauthorized."

The church's program for sex abuse victims, Towards Healing, explicitly states there should be no restrictions on sex abuse victims speaking out.

"A bishop is not a lawyer," McCarthy told local press when asked why they had not realized the agreements were contrary to church guidelines.

"When the documents were presented to them it may not have been brought to their attention ... It may well be that they didn't know," he said.

The revelations were reinforced Monday by the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane which admitted the inclusion of confidentiality clauses in compensation agreements for victims in the northern Australian state of Queensland.

Brisbane Archbishop John Bathersby told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that there may problems with the wording in some legal documents and he would be reviewing all cases.

Newspaper apology

Monday's admission comes only days after the archbishops of Melbourne and Sydney, Australia's two biggest Catholic dioceses, took out advertisements in weekend newspapers around the country to apologize for past sexual abuse by members of the clergy.

"We acknowledge with deep sadness and regret the evil of sexual abuse and other betrayals of trust which have been committed by a small minority of Catholic clergy," the open letter said.

The advertisement went on to state "compensation payments are not an attempt to buy silence."

The compensation program for victims has paid out $1.7 million to sex abuse victims in Victoria state alone since 1996. Victims are able to receive up to around $31,000 each.

The total amount of compensation paid to victims around the country is not known because different systems operate in each state.

Over the last 10 years nearly 100 Australian priests or religious clergy have been before Australian courts on sexual charges.