AUSTRALIA
SBS

AAP

A detective won’t face a contempt charge over a tweet he sent during a court hearing into claims the Catholic Church covered up child sex abuse.

Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson will be among witnesses grilled behind closed doors as an inquiry into the handling of allegations of child sex abuse by Hunter Valley priests enters its second phase.

The special commission of inquiry began in Newcastle last month and is focusing on how police and church officials handled sex abuse allegations, particularly those involving serial sex offender Father Denis McAlinden and convicted pedophile Father James Fletcher, who are both dead.

The first stage of the inquiry, which examined whether local Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox had been asked to stop investigating abuse, is expected to wrap up with a final week of public hearings later this month.