• Catholic Church once again at center of abuse inquiry

    Andrew Taylor / Attorney General's Dept. via AP

    Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard called the inquiry into sexual abuse a "moral moment" for the country and warned of "very uncomfortable truths."

    By Duncan Golestani, Correspondent, NBC News

    The Catholic Church in Australia is one of several institutions in the country being investigated by a "royal commission" that is looking into allegations of child sex abuse.

    At the start of proceedings on Wednesday, the commission's chairman, Justice Peter McClellan, said it was likely that at least 5,000 people would want to give evidence to the government-backed inquiry. It will investigate allegations of abuse and cover-up that could date back decades. The commission will be focusing on religious organizations, state care providers such as orphanages and not-for-profit groups such as the Girl Guides and Scouts.

    Groups representing alleged victims of abuse say the proceedings will finally reveal Australia's history of widespread physical and sexual abuse of vulnerable children.

    As tearful campaigners gathered outside the court in Melbourne, McClellan said he wanted to hear the personal accounts of those abused and those who may have been witnesses to crimes.

    "For the individuals who have been traumatized, giving an account of their experiences and telling their story can be an important part of their own recovery process," he said. "The bearing of witness by another can break the silence over the abuse that a person experienced, in many cases, years ago."

    Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the commission in November after allegations of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church in the Hunter Valley region, north of Sydney. A serving police officer called for a national inquiry, alleging the church had protected pedophile priests and tried to stop investigations.

    The Catholic Church has said it will cooperate fully with the commission and has formed a "Truth, Justice and Healing Council." Its head, Francis Sullivan, said in a statement that the church was ready and willing to assist. "It is essential that the Commission's process contribute to the healing of the victims, and that institutions develop best-practice processes to address child sexual abuse."

    Giving a sense of the scale of the inquiry, McClellan said the commission might not be able to meet its deadline of late 2015. It has already received around 1,200 telephone calls before starting. The allegations are likely to be so harrowing that staff members will be limited in how much testimony they can listen to each day.

    Gillard called it a "moral moment" for the country. She told Australia's ABC News Radio, "When I established this royal commission I understood that it was going to require our whole country to stare some very uncomfortable truths in the face."

    Related:

    Britain's top Catholic cleric resigns

     

  • Murdoch: Hacking scandal cost 'hundreds of millions'

    Rupert Mudoch told British lawmakers he "failed" and repeatedly apologized about the phone hacking scandal at his tabloid newspaper The News of the World. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.

    By Stephanie Gosk, NBC News, and F. Brinley Bruton, msnbc.com

    Updated at 8:05 a.m. ET: Rupert Murdoch on Thursday said he had spent "hundreds of millions of dollars" to clean-up the legal and ethical mess caused by phone-hacking at the now-shuttered News of the World tabloid.

    "I pledged I would clean it up and I did. I have spent hundreds of millions of dollars … We had electronically examined 300 million emails … and anything that was faintly suspicious was passed to the police," he told a public inquiry into media ethics in Britain.

    The News of the World was the top-selling Sunday tabloid that rocked the British establishment after evidence emerged of police corruption and too-cozy links between the press and politicians.

    Murdoch admitted that he had failed to properly oversee the News of the World but deflected charges that he was aware that journalists there were involved with illegal and unethical activities.

    "I also have to say that I failed," he said. "I'm guilty of not having paid enough attention to the News of the World probably throughout all the time that we've owned it."

    Rupert Murdoch returned to the Leveson Inquiry to give evidence for a second day. ITV's Paul Davis reports.

    Murdoch shuttered the 168-year-old tabloid as the scandal spread last year and News International has been hit with over 100 lawsuits over phone hacking and dozens of reporters and media executives have been arrested.

    However, the 81-year-old media mogul said he was "misinformed and shielded" from illegal and unethical activity at the News of the World, and that others were to blame for hiding the extent of the scandal from top editors and executives.

    "I think from within the News of the World, there were one or two very strong characters there who I think had been there many, many, many years and were friends of the journalists, or the person I'm thinking of was a friend of the journalists and a drinking pal and a clever lawyer, and forbade them ... this person forbade people to go and report to (Rebekah) Brooks or to James (Murdoch)."

    Ben Stansall / AFP - Getty Images

    Rupert Murdoch, his wife Wendi Deng and son Lachlan (left) leave their London home on Wednesday.

    Brooks was chief executive of News International, the newspaper's publisher, editor of News of the World and a Murdoch favorite. Rupert Murdoch's son James, who stepped down this month as chairman of broadcaster BSkyB, appeared before the inquiry on Tuesday.

    Rupert Murdoch grilled at UK phone-hack inquiry

    During an exchange with a lawyer acting on behalf of the inquiry, Robert Jay, Murdoch admitted that he "panicked" when the Milly Dowler scandal broke. Revelations that News of the World journalists hacked into the missing 13-year-old's cellphone -- she was later found murdered -- provoked an enormous public outcry.

    The media baron also said the scandals involving the newspaper had hurt his legacy.

    "I think historically this whole business is a serious blot on my reputation," he said.

    Not a puppet master?
    On Wednesday, Murdoch denied charges that his media empire played puppet master to a succession of British prime ministers.

    "I have never asked a prime minister for anything," he said during the hearings into media ethics in London on Wednesday.

    The appearance before a judge by the world's most powerful media mogul has been a defining moment in a scandal that has laid bare collusion between ministers, police and Murdoch's News Corp., reigniting long-held concerns over the close ties between big money, the media and power in Britain. 

     U.S.-based News Corp.'s feet are being held to the fire at the hearings but it isn't the only challenge the company faces. There are three ongoing police investigations, dozens of people have been arrested.  Eleven of those arrested could soon be facing criminal charges.

    News Corp. is worth an estimated $60 billion and owns influential media companies including Fox Television and the Wall Street Journal.

    Meanwhile, the British minister accused of giving Murdoch special access during the media tycoon's bid to increase his hold on Britain's television industry on Wednesday labeled accusations against him as "laughable."

    Jeremy Hunt, the culture minister who was last year tasked with reviewing Murdoch's $12-billion plan to boost his stake in British pay TV operator BSkyB, is under immense pressure to resign after allegations emerged of his close contacts with News Corp.

    While testifying before the Leveson inquiry on media ethics, the media mogul responded to allegations that he had abused his power to influence the British government. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.

    On Tuesday, Murdoch's media executive son James said Hunt had given News Corp special treatment during talks surrounding the government's decision on whether to allow the TV deal to go ahead.

    "The idea I was backing this bid is laughable," a visibly flustered Hunt told parliament to roars of approval from his own Conservative Party and jeers of derision from the opposition Labour party, which has led calls for him to be sacked.

    The furor is the latest blow to Prime Minister David Cameron's government after a torrid month in which he has lurched from crisis to crisis, garnering an embarrassing slew of negative headlines and raising questions over his leadership.

    Chiara Francavilla, NBC News in London, and Reuters contributed to this report.

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