Child Abuse Royal Commission: Current Bishop of Brisbane Brian Finnigan "Ignored" Complaints about Paedophile Priest Gerald Ridsdale
By Guy Stayner
The current Bishop of Brisbane ignored complaints about notorious paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has heard. Bishop Brian Finnigan was the secretary to the Bishop of Ballarat in the 1980s. In 1981, he took a phone call from concerned parents in Mortlake about Gerald Ridsdale. Counsel Assisting Angus Steward read a statement from the parents. "We said that the enquiry was related to the safety of our son," he read. "We asked Father Finnigan whether we needed to be concerned about the welfare of our child in relation to Father Ridsdale. "He said that there was no need for concern and there had been no reports of improper behaviour by Ridsdale." Under cross-examination from royal commissioner Justice Peter McClennan, Bishop Finnigan said he had no memory of the conversation and did not refer the complaint. Justice McClennan: Someone comes to you and says they are concerned about the safety of their child. Does that not cause you the greatest alarm? Bishop Finnigan: On reflection it should have, but at the time I didn't twig to it. Justice McClennan: When someone comes to you, a member of your church, and says they are concerned about the safety of their child, was it not incumbent on you to do what ever you could to ensure that the child was safe? Bishop Finnegan: I'd accept that now, but at the time, as I said, they were going to follow it up with the Bishop and they weren't going to tell me the detail, apparently because they said they were going to speak to the Bishop privately, so I left it at that. Justice McClennan: Well, at the very least to assist the child, wouldn't you go to the Bishop and say, 'Bishop there's something you must know, this message has been conveyed to me'? Bishop Finnigan: I should have but I didn't because, as I said, they were going to get in touch with the Bishop. It was then put to Bishop Finnigan that the parents wanted him to put them in contact with Bishop Ronald Mulkearns. "Oh no, I wouldn't interpret it that way at all," replied Bishop Finnigan. Bishop Finnigan told the commission he did not tell Bishop Mulkearns of the 1981 complaint, nor did he organise a meeting between the Bishop and the family. Bishop Mulkearns knew of formal complaints about Gerald Ridsdale molesting young boys as early as 1976.
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