AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald
IAN KIRKWOOD
2 Sep 2016
THE Catholic Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle, Bill Wright, finished giving his evidence on Friday afternoon and left the hearings while a survivor, CQW, was telling of his abuse at Marist Brothers Maitland in the 1960s.
The Royal Commission resumed after lunch with its chairman, Justice Peter McClellan, asking why paedophilia had been a particular problem for the church for many centuries.
Justice McClellan said this was “reflected in the whole history of the confessional [and] reflected in provisions in canon law”.
When Bishop Wright said it was “an enduring problem in our societies, as far as I know”, Justice McClellan said “that may be true but it’s also been a particular problem for the church”.
Justice McClellan said Bishop Malone had acknowledged the church had covered up,and he asked the bishop what it was now doing to address its issues.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.