AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald
By JOANNE McCARTHY Aug. 5, 2014
A SEVEN-member panel headed by a retired NSW Supreme Court judge will decide the future ministry of senior Hunter Catholic priests Bill Burston and Alan Hart.
Maitland-Newcastle Bishop Bill Wright has called for submissions to the panel, which is considering whether the clergymen should remain parish priests after adverse findings by NSW Special Commission of Inquiry head Margaret Cunneen, SC, in May.
The priests were ‘‘inconsistent’’ and ‘‘unsatisfactory’’ witnesses who knew of the crimes committed by child sex offender priests Denis McAlinden and James Fletcher, but failed to notify police, Ms Cunneen found.
Retired NSW Court of Appeals judge and prominent Sydney Anglican Church member Kenneth Handley, QC, will head the panel which includes senior Parramatta Catholic educator Patricia Crennan, University of Newcastle theology and ethics Professor Terry Lovat, and Parramatta Vicar-General Chris de Souza.
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