AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald
By IAN KIRKWOOD July 12, 2013
BISHOP Michael Malone has opened a window into the secretive world of Catholic canon law, saying he defied edicts from Rome which required clergy to destroy documents associated with priestly paedophilia.
In his third day in the witness box at the Special Commission of Inquiry sitting in Newcastle, the former head of the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic diocese was again taken to task about aspects of his handling of allegations against two of the diocese’s priests – Denis McAlinden and Jim Fletcher.
This section of the inquiry is investigating whether Church officials “hindered or obstructed” police investigations in any way, including by a failure to report alleged criminal offences.
As it had been for the previous two days, Bishop Malone’s recall of specific events of the time was sometimes vague, as he continued to answer numerous questions from counsel assisting, Julia Lonergan, by saying he was unable to recall the detail of what she was asking him about.
Bishop Malone spoke again of a personal journey that began with a desire to protect the Church from attacks, and finished with a stand on Church paedophilia he said had put him at odds with some of his fellow senior clergy.
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.