Pope Francis names Bishop Mark Edwards as new Bishop of the Diocese of Wagga Wagga

AUSTRALIA
ABC Riverina

May 27, 2020

By Moyra Shields

The Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne has been named the new head of the Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga – a position that has been vacant since 2016.

Bishop Gerard Hanna retired early in September 2016 due to ill health, soon after he told the child sexual abuse Royal Commission about a priest in Tamworth he told to keep away from children.

Two years later Australia’s former ambassador to the Vatican, the late Tim Fischer, described the ongoing vacancy as a disgrace and linked it to a failure to deal with sexual abuse by the clergy.

Pope Francis last night appointed 60-year-old Bishop Mark Edwards the sixth bishop of Wagga Wagga, a diocese that stretches from Griffith to Tocumwal and Albury to Tumbarumba.

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