SYDNEY,
Australia — A study that examines child sexual abuse worldwide in the
Roman Catholic Church has found that the Australian church has done less
to safeguard children in its care than its counterparts in similar
countries have.
The report,
released on Wednesday by the Center for Global Research at the Royal
Melbourne Institute of Technology, also found that the church’s
requirement that priests be celibate was a major risk factor for abuse.
And it said that the possibility of abuse in Catholic residential
institutions, like orphanages, should be getting more attention,
especially in developing countries.