AUSTRALIA
The Morning Bulletin

Austin King | 18th Apr 2015

WHEN pedophile priest Father Reginald Durham was charged with sexually abusing children, his leader Bishop Brian Heenan wrote him a glowing character reference.

The former Catholic Bishop of Rockhampton (Fr Heenan) believed it was his role at the time to support his priest, knowing full-well there were child sex abuse allegations against Fr Durham.

In yesterday’s Royal Commission hearing into child sexual abuse at Neerkol Orphanage, it emerged that Fr Heenan wrote the letter of reference to support his priest’s “good” side.

The commission heard Fr Heenan was trying to weigh-up the “incredible amount of good he (Fr Durham) has done against the failings that have also been part of his life”.

In his reference letter, he wrote: “Fr Durham has had a unique life as a citizen of this district, priest to many parish communities, chaplain to service…