AUSTRALIA
9 News
A retired Catholic bishop who came under fire for once dismissing abuse allegations at a Queensland orphanage will face a royal commission.
In 1996, then-head of the Catholic diocese of Rockhampton Brian Heenan labelled claims of child abuse at the Neerkol orphanage “scurrilous” and “slanderous”.
Mr Heenan later formally apologised to former Neerkol residents on behalf of the diocese and said he regretted not acknowledging their sufferings.
The former bishop is due to appear at a public hearing of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Rockhampton on Friday.
Representatives of the Sisters of Mercy, who ran the orphanage, are also expected to be called.
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