Australian PM apologizes to nation’s child sex abuse victims

SYDNEY — Prime Minister Scott Morrison delivered a formal apology Monday to Australia’s victims of child sex abuse, saying the nation must acknowledge their painful journey and its failure to protect them.

Morrison’s emotional speech in Parliament before hundreds of survivors followed the conclusion of a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the highest level of inquiry.

“Today as a nation we confront our failure to listen, to believe, and to provide justice,” he said, adding: “We say sorry.”

Abuse survivors gathered in Parliament’s Great Hall cried, yelled and applauded as Morrison read the apology.

“I believe you, we believe you, your country believes you,” he said.

The four-year inquest that delivered its final report in December revealed shocking evidence from more than 17,000 survivors and heard allegations against government, church and private institutions, as well as prominent individuals.

It also heard evidence from leaders such as Vatican Cardinal George Pell, who is charged with committing historical sex abuses himself and was accused of failing to protect children.

Morrison said nothing could be done to right the wrongs inflicted on children.

The lawmakers stood for a minute of silence after the apology, which came with the announcement of government plans to create a museum and research center to raise awareness and understanding of the impacts of child sexual abuse, and to ensure the nation does not forget the horrors victims have suffered. In Cameroon: Africa’s oldest president, Paul Biya, easily won a seventh term Monday after a Constitutional Council he picked rejected legal challenges to the election. Analysts say the country threatened by separatists faces further turmoil if Biya, 85, doesn’t prepare it for life without him after decades in power.