Opinion: David Shoebridge’s request for an inquest into Father Glen Walsh and other Catholic suicides deserves support

NEWCASTLE (AUSTRALIA)
Newcastle Herald

August 29, 2020

https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/6900595/david-shoebridges-request-for-an-inquest-into-father-glen-walsh-and-other-catholic-suicides-deserves-support/?cs=12

AS foreshadowed last week in the Newcastle Herald, Greens MLC David Shoebridge has written formally to the NSW Coroner, Teresa O’Sullivan, and the Attorney General, Mark Speakman, seeking a coronial inquest into the death of Catholic priest Father Glen Walsh, as well as a broader investigation into dozens of suicides, overdoses and other deaths by misadventure of boys and men from the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.

This is a call that the Herald supports without qualification.

It is also a call the diocese says it supports, having posted a statement on its website yesterday, “welcoming a police inquiry into the tragic suicide” of Father Walsh.

At the same time, however, the diocese says that “as stated previously, (it) does not believe there is substantive gain to be had from further judicial inquiries”.

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