Ok, they went and surprised me. Turns out we are getting a national (not state) royal commission.
They're currently sorting out terms of reference, etc. It's going to look at all institutions, not just the Catholic Church, but it's obvious the Catholic Church is the primary target. It also seems that the commission will have a legal mandate to force priests to break the seal of the confessional, which funnily enough some of them are a bit worried about.
Protection of Confession under heavy firePOLITICIANS of all persuasions, from Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott down, say Catholic priests must not be exempt from having to report child abuse to police should they hear it in the confession of a colleague.
MPs said the royal commission into sexual abuse should examine the issue and recommend that, where necessary, state criminal codes be harmonised to mandate that priests go to the police in child sexual abuse matters.
The federal Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, who is charged with setting up the commission, agreed the seal of Confession should be looked at, but she cautioned against too much focus on the issue. Ms Roxon said the commission's remit would be much broader than just the Catholic Church.
And while the church ''will be a key part of this'', the issue of confessions not being referred to the police was not a major factor in the church when it came to covering up or failing to report child sexual abuse. ''While it's a difficult and prominent religious issue, it's not the core of what's being looked at,'' she said.
Ms Roxon said there were ''much more blatant and open failures'' to stop abuse that needed to be examined and not just in the church, but other institutions as well. These included turning a blind eye to abuse, not acting on complaints by victims and not acting on ''open secrets'' that a certain individuals within organisations were child abusers.
The federal government, which has begun consultations with the states, churches and other interested parties on the terms of reference, is aiming to have the details finalised at a premiers conference in Canberra on December 7.
And
Royal commission to consider confessional sealThe royal commission into child sex abuse is likely to consider whether Catholic priests should be forced to tell police about crimes against children told to them in the confessional.
There are growing calls for priests to be subject to the same mandatory reporting rules that other professions are, despite church rules that the confessional should remain secret.
Federal Attorney-General Nicola Roxon says the idea that priests are not required to go to the police with information about child abuse is "abhorrent".
"Child sex abuse is a crime, it should be reported, and I know that the royal commission is going to have some very complex issues to deal with," Ms Roxon told ABC News 24, "But I think we can't afford to say that that should not be on the table, because clearly that is a concern."
Australia's most senior Catholic, Sydney Archbishop George Pell, yesterday said the seal of confession was "inviolable", a position that has put him at odds with some senior MPs who are part of the church. New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell, who is a Catholic, says he cannot fathom why priests should not be required to pass on evidence of child abuse to police.
Pell is one of the Catholic hierarchy who, just days ago, was insisting that an inquiry of any sort was not necessary.
Topic: The Catholic Church, again..............