AUSTRALIA
7 News
Megan Neil
December 7, 2015
A Victorian bishop who knew about a pedophile priest refused to take the word of a child over one of his priests, an inquiry has heard.
Parish priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale himself has said he was out of control and “went haywire” in the Victorian town of Mortlake, where he is believed to have abused every boy in school.
A victim’s parents met with then Ballarat bishop Ronald Mulkearns in 1982, saying: “We’ve got big problems in Mortlake.”
The child abuse royal commission heard before they said anything else, Bishop Mulkearns said: “How am I to take the word of a child over one of my priests?”
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