A WARRNAMBOOL victim of clergy abuse has renewed calls to consider whether it is appropriate to retain a plaque with the name of disgraced former Bishop of Ballarat Ronald Mulkearns.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Bishop Mulkearns played a role in moving pedophile priests around the south-west - particularly defrocked priest Gerald Ridsdale.
His role was highlighted in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which found the church hierarchy had been involved in catastrophic failures.
The Warrnambool victim made the request in February this year which, led to a plaque at Warrnambool's St Josephs Primary school being altered and other plaques at Warrnambool, Mortlake, Noorat and Koroit being removed.
Ballarat's St Patrick's College has also had a black line drawn through the names of disgraced members of the clergy on its honour boards.
It is understood plaques remain at Emmanuel College, Our Lady Help Of Christians and at Warrnambool's St Josephs Church as well as other churches and schools across the south-west.
The victim said the case for the plaques to be taken down or altered had only been strengthened by the findings of the Royal Commission.
He said Bishop Mulkearns failed in his duty to protect children from abuse, was aware of clergy abuse and had failed to act.
The victim refuses to enter churches or schools with such plaques because of Bishop Mulkearns' reign over systemic abuse when intervention could have saved many children from being abused.
Bishop Mulkearns, who died last year, was aware of pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale’s offending in 1975 but chose to move him to parishes within the diocese, including Edenhope and Mortlake, allowing the notorious offender to keep abusing children.
Some of Australia's most notorious abusers were part of a pedophile ring operating in Ballarat for decades and the Royal Commission heard that almost 10 per cent of Ballarat diocese clergy members had committed sexual offences.
In April this year the Catholic Bishop of Ballarat, Paul Bird, rejected calls to remove plaques which include the name of Bishop Mulkearns.
He said it was important to accurately record historical events where the community had gathered to celebrate with the bishop.
Bishop Bird said he thought removing plaques was going too far and that each school or church council had to make its own decision.
He called for those making such decisions to also recognise the good work done by Bishop Mulkearns.
