AUSTRALIA
9 News
Belinda Grant-Geary
One of Australia’s most senior Catholic priests said his role was to deal with sexual abuse cases only after they had been made public.
Archbishop Mark Coleridge said it would not be appropriate to quiz the clergy on their sex lives when asked how the church’s structure allowed more than 4,000 Australian children to be allegedly abused.
Speaking at the Royal Commission into Child Sex Abuse on Wednesday, Father Coleridge described the relationship between a priest and bishop as “delicate”.
He argued that as his role was in the Church’s “external forum”, he had no right to question priests about their sex lives.
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