Words can hurt and words can heal. Chrissie Foster knows that better than most.
When she and her late husband Anthony first sought justice for their daughter Emma, who was abused as a child by Father Kevin O’Donnell and killed herself after years of mental anguish, they were airily dismissed by then Sydney bishop — now Archbishop — Anthony Fisher of “dwelling crankily … on old wounds”. When Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart was questioned at the Victorian
inquiry into clerical sex abuse about the two-decade delay in dealing
with notorious paedophile Father Des Gannon — the priest had been
convicted of sex attacks in 1995, 1997, 2000 and 2003 — Melbourne’s most
senior priest smirked: “Well, better late than never.”
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/child-sex-abuse-apology-the-hardest-word-heals-but-action-matters-most/news-story/701565b75c82923350bd1d6ce8d3d3db
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/child-sex-abuse-apology-the-hardest-word-heals-but-action-matters-most/news-story/701565b75c82923350bd1d6ce8d3d3db