Hundreds of Catholics are refusing to donate to the church until it apologises to the elderly mother of an alleged sexual abuse victim.
Eileen Piper, 92, is demanding an apology and compensation over her daughter's alleged sexual abuse at the hands of Pallottine priest Gerard Mulvale.
Her 32-year-old daughter Stephanie killed herself in 1994, a year after she told her mother of about being sexually abused as a teenager.
Police charged Mulvale after Stephanie made a complaint, but she died before it came to trial. Mulvale was later convicted of sex crimes against two teenage boys.
Ms Piper last month met in private with Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart on the sidelines of a royal commission into child abuse hearing in Sydney.
But she told reporters afterwards that the Archbishop did not accept that the abuse had occurred.
Ms Piper refused to give up and launched a petition and survey asking if people would withhold donations until she received an apology.
The answer was a resounding 'yes' from of the almost 2000 who responded.
Seventy-four per cent of the 817 people who identified as Catholic promised to withhold financial support while the church "refused" to apologise to Ms Piper.
Five per cent said they'd continue donating as normal while 21 per cent said the question didn't apply to them.
One of the respondents, Victorian Catholic Louisa Brewer, said she won't donate another cent.
"I've decided to remain a Catholic (by attending mass only) but refuse to financially support or do anything else to support in any way."
The Melbourne Archdiocese in February released a statement saying it believed Stephanie's case had been investigated thoroughly and it could not be satisfied on the evidence that the abuse occurred.
