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Australian defies US church on sex abuse

Sun, 2008-06-08 11:16 — ABN

Duke Helfand in Los Angeles
June 9, 2008

AN AUSTRALIAN bishop has rejected demands by 12 leading Catholic bishops that he cancel a month-long tour of the US to promote his controversial book about sexual abuse by the clergy.

Following direction from the Vatican, the bishops have asked Geoffrey Robinson, a retired auxiliary bishop of Sydney, to avoid their dioceses because of his "problematic positions" on priestly celibacy and other issues.

In his book, Confronting Power And Sex In The Catholic Church: Reclaiming The Spirit Of Jesus, Bishop Robinson argues that the church's celibacy requirement has contributed to the sex abuse crisis. He openly criticises the papacy for failing to provide leadership, and wonders whether the church has been more concerned with managing the scandal than confronting it.

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