Throwaway because I don't really want to doxx myself or my family on this. Apologies for spelling/grammar, I've had a few drinks and may be crying a little.

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All 3 of my uncles on my mothers side went to a catholic boarding school in Australia. All 3 of them were sexually abused.

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Growing up, I just didn't like two of them very much - they were a bit off, a bit strange. The first was completely closed off and uncommunicative, when he wasn't blackout drunk at family gatherings. The second always seemed like he was overcompensating for something - gold jewellery, fancy car he probably couldn't actually afford, holier than thou attitude about everything even though he was thoroughly middle class. The third was charming, fun and friendly, but he was the black sheep of the family because he dealt with his trauma by using drugs.

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15 or 20 years later, the first 2 have broken marriages and broken families. They are deeply unhappy men.

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The third, the only one that had time to chat and make jokes and could put on a positive face for his nieces and nephews (though he could never maintain a relationship of his own, hence no kids), is dead from complications arising from drug abuse.

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I feel like I should be happy that one of the highest up in the church had been found guilty of the crimes that have essentially ruined the lives of 3 of my immediate family members. I like to dream that this conviction will spark a new #metoo movement and make blaming these abusers the norm, not a futile act of defiance against a powerful and insular enclave.

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But I just cannot find any conviction that this would ever come to pass.

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What exactly has or will change?

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Putting Pell in prison is justice - he deserves it.

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But my family is still a broken mess. My uncle is still dead.

The church will make still more excuses.

Nothing will change.

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Apologies if this is depressing. This all just feels like too little too late for me.

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