AUSTRALIA
ABC News
By Will Ockenden
Updated July 27, 2012
A senior member of Australia’s Catholic Church says he would support a public inquiry into the church’s handling of sexual assaults by priests.
The Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, Bill Wright, says it is up to governments to work out which issues need investigating.
Over the past 50 years the Hunter Valley has seen scores of people reporting cases of sexual assault by priests.
One Catholic priest was convicted and jailed several years ago after sexually abusing 39 schoolboys aged from five to 16 years old over nearly 20 years.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.