Bishop to Attend Launch of Book on Clergy Abuse

By Heath Aston
Sydney Morning Herald
November 11, 2012

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/bishop-to-attend-launch-of-book-on-clergy-abuse-20121110-294vu.html

Attending ... the Bishop of Maitland and Newcastle Bill Wright.

THE Bishop of Maitland and Newcastle, Bill Wright, has agreed to attend the launch of a book detailing the rape of an altar boy by a Catholic priest who later died in jail.

The book, Holy Hell, has been written by Patricia Feenan, one of the Hunter region's campaigners for a full royal commission on sexual abuse by the clergy in NSW.

The foreword to the book has been penned by whistleblower cop, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox, who will also attend the book launch at the Catholic Church complex in Newcastle on December 6.

Ms Feenan's son Daniel was raped by Father James Patrick Fletcher and suffered other sexual atrocities at the hands of the paedophile priest in the early 1990s. Fletcher was jailed for ten years in 2004 but died in custody 18 months later.

Ms Feenan told The Sun-Herald she was pleased the Bishop would front the launch of Holy Hell.

''He's a brave man. Almost as brave as my son who will come up from Tasmania for it,'' she said.

A spokeswoman for the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle confirmed Bishop Wright's intention to attend the book launch.

Ms Feenan said the church had become more supportive since her family's ''lonely journey'' for justice between 2002 and 2004. But Premier Barry O'Farrell's announcement on Friday of a special commission of inquiry into interference in police investigations of alleged paedophile priests in the Hunter was insufficient, she said.

''The public has lost faith in the church's ability to handle the matter. Just because many cases are historical does not mean they should be forgotten. I think focusing on the police work is a red herring.''

Independent senator Nick Xenophon yesterday joined calls for a wider investigation. ''The days when we allow the Catholic Church to be its own investigator are well and truly over,'' he said. The Greens, Labor and Nationals MP Troy Grant have called on the Premier to rethink the limited inquiry.