(from our correspondents in Sydney) "We share the words of the Pope on the need to show respect and understanding for the victims of sexual abuses", said the Most Rev. Anthony Fisher, bishop coordinator of WYD, in Sydney this morning. The bishop was commenting on the cases of sexual violence committed by ecclesiastics that have occurred in Australia in the past. He emphasized however that the Holy Father’s visit to Australia is already full of engagements, so a meeting of Benedict XVI with the victims of sexual violence would be improbable, and if any such meeting were to occur, it would be "in a strictly private form". For his part Bishop Fisher remarked that "sexual abuses have no place in the Church", and that the Australian Church itself has the "firm intention to do everything possible to help the victims of violence" and to "prevent further cases". "What’s needed he concluded is justice and compassion".
