AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald
By JOANNE McCARTHY
Nov. 14, 2012
MAITLAND-Newcastle Bishop Bill Wright has formally apologised to three women – including a former nun – who were sexually harassed or assaulted by the late priest Terry Sylvester.
The bishop has confirmed the allegations about the priest’s offences against a nun after it was revealed by the Newcastle Herald in September. The public apology came after parishes across the diocese at the weekend were read a statement from the bishop, at his direction, that criticised the Herald for ‘‘misrepresenting’’ facts.
In a lengthy statement, Bishop Wright confirmed the diocese accepted that Father Sylvester had engaged in ‘‘a pattern of verbal harassment and a single incident of physical harassment of a sexual nature against an adult person’’ in the late 1970s.
The Herald has a document identifying the ‘‘adult person’’ as a Hunter nun. The matter was not reported to police.
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