Catholic " Mafia " !

The Special Commission Enquiry into paedophilia in the Roman Catholic church has broken new ground with a revelation that Catholic senior police in New South Wales used their positions of authority to close down investigations when evidence emerged of priests abusing children.

Senior church administration feared that bringing paedophilia into the open would harm the good name of the church and so they solved their problem by simply moving the offending priest to another diocese - and putting children at risk in another location that was not their concern.   It seems that at no stage were the police alerted  by church members and that police action ensured only when victims themselves went to the police.

Sadly, police investigations usually quickly reached a dead end because Catholic senior police took the same attitude as the bishops - and used their seniority to protect the reputation of their church.   Officers following up complaints were made to close down the investigation or were moved to other cases deemed more pressing.    This enquiry heard the term " Catholic Mafia " used to describe this situation.

Nothing would have changed if Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox had not gone public and raised this issue at a public meeting.   He is still a serving officer, but his days in the police force are clearly numbered.  " Whistle blowers " are not tolerated when they bring the spotlight on inequities within the branch of government in which they serve.

There is a mad scramble within police ranks to duck for cover.  Several officers have gone on " stress leave ", to avoid being dragged before the enquiry and it will probably take this matter being raised before the Royal Commission for the necessary legal authority to come into play and force witnesses to give evidence.

This raises the question of what becomes of an honest cop ?    Peter Fox is a very senior policeman and he has put justice for the victims of paedophilia before his own career.   There are religious zealots in the community who value the church above all else and the life of this man and his family is not beyond risk.  There are probably also serving police officers with a lust for vengeance - because the taint of police corruption is going to mar many careers.

Peter Fox is the very type of person we badly need in the upper house of the NSW parliament - or in the Senate in Canberra.   Rarely do we get a person who is clearly  honest and also is not afraid to speak his mind - and take on issues that will offend powerful people.

That sounds exactly like the type of person we need in politics !