WORKPLACE Relations Minster Tony Abbott has defended sex scandals in the
Catholic Church, saying pedophilia is no more prevalent there than in other
organisations.
Under grilling from college students yesterday, the devout Catholic and former
trainee Jesuit priest said the church had put itself before victims.
Both the Anglican and Catholic Church have come under the spotlight over the way they have dealt with victims of sexual abuse.
"These problems haven't always been dealt with in the past, and if you go back in time there certainly was a tendency to look at the reputation of the church ahead of these damaged individuals," Mr Abbott said.
But it was not just religious organisations which had to deal with sex crimes.
"All institutions that deal with young people have sadly had a small percentage of these people who shouldn't be there, and that's true of schools, that's true of the military, that's true of sporting associations," he said.
"Let's not bind up the (Catholic) Church as the only organisation which sees this."
Mr Abbott is the fourth federal MP to be put under the spotlight in the National Museum of Australia's talkback classroom, beamed around the nation via the ABC's youth radio Triple J.