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The Duty of Care of the Institution to its Employees and Parishioners
Dear Friends,
 The recent case of Fr Robert Fuller from the Parish of Liverpool recently arrested and charged by police amidst much publicity will be well-known to most readers of Catholica. His case has caused disquiet because initially it was reported in the press that the Archdiocese had provided the $25,000 bail needed by Fr Fuller while he prepares his defence and the police prepare their case for a court hearing. Subsequently the Archdiocese issued a media release denying it was providing any bail. This situation has caused disquiet amongst some priests who wonder what sort of support they might get from their employer if they found themselves in difficulties of any kind. Despite the publicity, Fr Fuller is entitled to the presumption of innocence until the allegations are proved otherwise in a court of law. The case also brings into focus the responsibility of the institutional leadership to provide trauma or other appropriate counselling to a parish when situations like this occur. We have heard allegations that the other two priests in the parish were themselves almost left adrift in the midst of the crisis that erupted following the arrest of their local leader. Today's editorial has been drafted by a small group of priests in the Sydney area who felt something needed to be said urgently. We considered running a letter under the names of the priests but it was going to take too long to get agreement on the wording of a letter from a significant group of priests. For the reasons of urgency in getting some comment into the public domain we offered the priests the opportunity to present their thoughts as an editorial comment so that the focus remains essentially on the issues rather than on personalities.
<Link to today's editorial>
www.catholica.com.au/editorial/028_edit_280809.php |
