AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald
Ian Kirkwood
A former provincial of the Marist Brothers, Michael Hill, has told the Royal Commission on Wednesday about an evolution in his thinking about “potentially inappropriate behaviour” by members of his order.
Brother Michael said he was of the belief that abuse was widespread in the order and not just a “temporary hiccup” by about 1997.
He said he was now embarrassed that in 1999 he had taken the subsequently disgraced Brother Romuald – Francis William Cable – at his word when he said he had been wrongly accused.
He said he had been “naive” to have believed Brother Romuald.
Counsel assisting the commission, Stephen Free, said to Brother Michael: “So you simply took him at his word, is that . . . ”
Brother Hill: “That’s right.”
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