I want everyone to know this.

From The Advocate:

Bishop didn’t get message because it was written in Latin

BISHOP Geoffrey Jarrett [of Lismore, Australia] told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse he didn’t report an allegation against Lismore’s Father Paul Rex Brown to the Vatican because he wasn’t aware there had been a directive from the Pope to do so.

Bishop Jarrett was recall- ed to the Commission in relation to the case of Jennifer Ingham, who was sexually abused by Father Brown between 1978 and 1982.

A complaint against Father Brown was made in 2002, a year after the Pope ordered bishops around the world to report any allegations of child sexual abuse to the Vatican if there was a “semblance of truth” in the case.

However, Bishop Jarrett told the Royal Commission he had failed to do so because some directives “may not be remembered or acted upon”.

When questioned further by the Chair of the Commission, Justice Peter McClellan, Bishop Jarrett said the Pope’s original directive had been received in Latin and his Latin was “not perfect”. [Picture this. “Hey! Here’s a letter from the Holy See. Hmmm. It’s in Latin. Okay, I guess I don’t have to know what’s in this one.”]

When Justice McClellan asked if he regularly received directives from the Vatican that he did not understand, Bishop Jarrett replied: “Usually they provide an English translation as well. Not all the bishops are fluent in Latin, not these days. Once we were.” [How do you simulate in writing the sound of a face-palm?]

Once it was established that Bishop Jarrett had also received the directive in English, there were numerous questions about why he had not followed it.

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