By a Broken Rites researcher

The Marist Brothers administration in Australia has apologised to two ex-pupils who encountered a senior Marist principal, Brother Bertinus, in Catholic boarding schools many years ago.

• Eoin Cameron encountered Brother Bertinus in a Marist boarding school in South Australia in the 1960s at the age of 12. In September 2009, when he was aged 58, Eoin was interviewed on a West Australian radio program and announced that he had recently received an apology from the Marist administration.

• And Broken Rites can reveal that the Marists have also apologised to another ex-pupil, John Kelly, who encountered Brother Bertinus a few years earlier at a different Marist boarding school (in Victoria) at the age of 14. John received his apology in February 2009, when he was aged 63.

Broken Rites normally does not publish the names of victims but Eoin and John have authorised us to publish their full names, as both these men are already on the public record as authors.

As boarders in a church school, both boys were in a vulnerable situation and, decades later, they are still feeling hurt by their experiences.

Both Eoin and John now feel that they have achieved justice by getting the Marist administration to apologise.

Brother Bertinus

The Marists Brothers in Australia are divided into two provinces — one with headquarters in Melbourne and one with headquarters in Sydney. Brother Bertinus spent his working life in the Melbourne Province, which conducted schools in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, plus a school (Red Bend College) at Forbes in western New South Wales. The Sydney Province operates in New South Wales (excepting the school at Forbes) and in Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory.

Brother Bertinus has held some responsible positions in the Marist order. For example:

• While still young, from 1948 into the early 1950s, he was the founding principal of Marist Brothers College (now St Joseph's) in Northam, Western Australia.

• In 1955 he became the founding principal of Champagnat College (now Galen College) in Wangaratta, Victoria, and he was still there in 1960.

• He was involved in the preparation of future Marist Brothers. At the Wangaratta school, as well supervising boarders in general, he also supervised a special group of boarders (in the final years of their secondary education) who were aspiring to become future Marist Brothers (one of these aspiring trainees was the above-mentioned John Kelly, whose story is told later in this article).

• During the 1960s Bertinus ran a Marist boarding school in Mount Gambier, South Australia.

• Bertinus has also been involved in Marist administration at headquarters level. In the late 1960s he was the Provincial (that is, the head) of the Marists' southern Australian (Melbourne) province. In those days, if any Marist pupils (or former pupils) wished to complain about experiences from their school days, they would have to lodge their complaint with the Provincial for southern Australia, Brother Bertinus.

Eoin Cameron's story

Even his older brother, Peter, who was also a boarder, was kept in the dark. When Eoin went home for holidays and then was due to return to school, he would scream and howl and lock himself in his room, but still could not tell his parents.

Eoin says these bad experiences (including the code of silence about church sexual abuse) disrupted his adolescence, causing him to leave school in distress at age 14. This set-back caused adverse effects that continued in his adult life and he had to struggle to overcome the impact. Meanwhile, he remained silent — and hurt — for years

Through his own efforts, Eoin Cameron eventually became a Federal Member of Parliament for Western Australia in the 1990s. Later he developed a career in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, presenting the breakfast program on ABC Perth local radio.

In 2003 Eoin published his autobiographical book, entitled Rolling into the World, in which he talked publicly (but briefly) about Brother Bertinus for the first time (on pages 176-177).

Eoin later spoke about Br Bertinus in an interview in the Perth Sunday Times Magazine on 29 February 2004 (written by Gail Williams), in which Eoin said: "How does a 12-year-old boy broach the subject? My parents didn't know that was why I hated school so much. If I had a free weekend and performed when it was time to go back, they would just think it was the usual histrionics. For me, secondary school was horrible the whole time."

Finally, Eoin Camerion submitted a written report to the church's Professional Standards Office, and eventually (in August 2009) this report resulted in the Marists' apology and the settlement.

On 24 September 2009, Eoin was being interviewed on a Perth radio program by an ABC colleague, Geoff Hutchison. Eoin told the radio audience about his experiences at the Marist boarding school. He also mentioned the Marists' apology, which he received in August 2009.

After this broadcast, a newspaper contacted the Marist Brothers national administration, which publicly confirmed the apology.

Brother Alexis Turton, of Blacktown NSW, who is in charge of handling "professional standards" complaints for the Marist Brothers in Australia, was quoted in the Weekend Australian (26 September 2009) as saying that Eoin's case was "sad and painful". He said the Marists respected Eoin's decision to disclose his experience publicly.

Brother Turton said: "Dealing with such tragic issues from the past is a challenging and significant ongoing responsibility for the Marists and the broader Church... The Brothers have engaged fully with Mr Cameron ... to bring some closure to this tragic experience."

Eoin Cameron said he feels vindicated after receiving the apology.

"I've got it (the apology) on the fridge and I often, before I come to work in the morning, look at it," he said. "And I feel good about it, that it was not my fault; it was something that a 12-year-old should never have to put up with and I'm feeling pretty good with myself."

After the broadcast, Eoin received congratulations from colleagues and friends and even from strangers who recognised his face (as a broadcaster, he is a public figure in Western Australia).

After the broadcast, Eoin's story was told in Perth's daily newspaper, the West Australian as well as in the national paper, the Weekend Australian.

John Kelly's story

John says that one night in 1960, when he was 14, he was asleep in his bed in the dormitory. He alleges that Brother Bertinus came to the bedside and then began handling John's private parts indecently.

John wrote in an impact statement in 2008:

"From the time this incident occurred, and I realized that it was improper, I felt confused and pessimistic about joining a religious order. The iconic image I had of the Marist Brothers changed; so much emphasis had been placed on purity of thought, word and deed, all of which I took very seriously. While we were constantly drilled that all sins of impurity were mortal sins, this person had interfered with me in a way that was not just intrusive, but hypocritical and constituted a breach of professional ethics, not to mention a duty of care. It was an act of betrayal against me and my parents who had placed me in that environment, at considerable cost to them, believing that I was physically safe and spiritually secure. I did my best to avoid Bertinus from that point on, but he was the principal, I was fourteen, and it was a boarding college. Even though there were no further incidents, I was always wary of him and felt incredibly vulnerable.

"I never felt able to discuss the late-night incident with anyone. My mother was devoted to the church and would not have believed me, or struggled to cope with it, if she did. It was a matter of great disappointment to her, when I told her at the end of the year that I did not want to return to Champagnat College. "Since going on the internet, I have regularly googled the name 'Bertinus' in the expectation of finding some reference that would vindicate my unrest over the past 48 years. When I discovered that Eoin Cameron, former federal MP in WA had written a book describing a similar experience involving Bertinus, I decided to act.

"Even now, having taken action, the sense of betrayal and hypocrisy lingers on my mind. The thought that for all these years, Bertinus has effectively 'got away with it', is annoying and frustrating."

In 2008, John submitted a complaint to the Catholic Church's professional standards office. Finally, he received a written apology, dated 23 February 2009, signed by Brother Alexis Turton on behalf of the Marist Brothers administration.

Brother Turton wrote to John:

"I was impressed with your sincerity and your desire to achieve healing and closure in this matter...

"This Brother was placed in a position of trust. His actions which you described are abusive and a betrayal of the trust that the Marist Brothers, your parents and yourself placed in him...

"As a former Provincial [i.e., chief executive officer] of the Brothers myself, I offer you my personal apology. This apology comes to you fully enorsed by Brother Julian Casey who is the present Provincial of the Southern [that is, Melbourne] Province of the Marist Brothers and who is aware of your painful story...

"While nothing we do or say can change what has happened in the past, I pray your dealing with it now will help you to move forward."

Footnote

Meanwhile, from time to time during recent years, a number of other former Marist pupils have contacted Broken Rites regarding schools where Brother Bertinus worked.