The Bathurst diocese of the Roman Catholic Church from the 1960s - has been well and truly investigated even to the recent foray's with Cardinal George Pell being video linked to the Child Commission.
This what we know. There was a climate of moving-on 'touchy' Priests to different parishes and no one really wanted to know what the 'touchy' issues were. When someone complained, it wasn't exactly swept under the carpet, rather it was handled in such a way that the immediate problem went away.
The Roman Catholic Church is a massive corporate entity and like all such entities the right hand might not know what the left hand is doing unless those governing the right hand happen to be in a meeting with those of the left hand and a specific area is raised.
It is too big an enterprise to have every little problem area raised at every meeting as most meetings are very specific and deals with one or possibly two corporate issues.
Father George Pell was 28 years old in this critical stage of his early ministry. His focus was clearly on the upward projectory within the structures of the church and his role at that time was not directly associated with the issues at hand. Now he's reached very near the top of the greasy pole .....
The defence that Cardinal George Pell was not unlike the defence of the Nazi leader Albert Speer and a successful one it was in Nuremberg as it has been for Pell -
"I did not know. I should have known. I could have known."
Millions of German military personnel and the German public after the end of WWII would claim they were simply not aware of the atrocities, it was a secret and kept a secret. Perhaps, had they investigated, they may have found out some home truths of the Nazi regime – a regime for which they were willing to sacrifice their lives.
But they did not explore anything outside their immediate surrounds. It was not in their interest to explore anything of such a nature. Contrived? Safe? Head in the sand? Don't rock the boat? Those that tried to assassinate Hitler were themselves shot outright or strung up by meat hooks.
Roman Catholicism has many burrows
The structures within the structures within the structures of the Roman Catholic Church are well documented not least with suspicions of Popes being bumped off, even a reasonably recent one.
The current Roman Bishop, Pope Francis, in his spring clean is sweeping furiously away with his straw broom while the 15th century Reformation's vacuum cleaner is stowed carefully away under lock and key.
It is a massive enterprise. It is not unlike the recent 4Corners program on the Commonwealth Bank's internal insurance dramas where those at the very top were simply unaware of the hardships of those hit the hardest and, the underhanded manner in which their own institutional insurances arm was engaged.
The only group that can effectively 'out' such nasties, is the media. Investigative journalists at times put their reputations and even their lives at stake, but once the media gets a sniff, it will inevitably out.
Christians must be prayers. Christians must also be at the forefront with all injustices from the P&C school committee to work place dramas to sport omissions to structural violence of government and corporate institutions. It can be dangerous!
Dr Mark Tronson is a Baptist minister (retired) who served as the Australian cricket team chaplain for 17 years (2000 ret) and established Life After Cricket in 2001. He was recognised by the Olympic Ministry Medal in 2009 presented by Carl Lewis Olympian of the Century. He mentors young writers and has written 24 books, and enjoys writing. He is married to Delma, with four adult children and grand-children.
Mark Tronson's archive of articles can be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/mark-tronson.html