A leader of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong yesterday denied pressuring the victims of sex abuse by priests to keep quiet about the incidents and insisted it had not paid them 'hush money'.
The Chancellor of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese, Father Lawrence Lee Len, also revealed that one of the three priests involved in the scandal was still working with the Church. The cleric was 'very remorseful' over his offence and continued to receive psychological treatment while working in an administrative and research post.
The police also confirmed last night that they had contacted the diocese over the cases. Detectives from Sau Mau Ping will meet the diocesan authorities as soon as possible.
Father Lee made the latest revelations in the most in-depth interview by a senior church figure since the South China Morning Post reported on Thursday that three priests had been found guilty at internal church hearings of abusing children in their care.
Last night, Father Lee also revealed that all the cases had taken place over the past 11 years and would be reported formally to the Vatican soon. The Church would also be stepping up its vetting procedures for new priests.
Tomorrow, priests will take questions from parishioners on the scandal in a bid to calm their fears, Father Lee said.
The Church has been heavily criticised for not handing the cases over to police. Detectives launched an investigation on Thursday following the Post story.
