Bishop Prepares Public to Hear a Lot of Grim Stories

By Emma S Wain
Maitland Mercury
May 6, 2013

http://www.maitlandmercury.com.au/story/1478875/bishop-prepares-public-to-hear-a-lot-of-grim-stories/?cs=171

Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle Bishop Bill Wright says the hearings will leave people appalled, outraged and angered.

Today marks the start of the first public hearings into child sexual abuse allegations within the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.

By his own admission, Diocesan head Bishop Bill Wright (pictured) said the hearings would leave the community appalled, outraged and angered. He said above all – the stories about to be heard – would be extremely grim.

“We know there will be a lot of people wishing to tell their stories and that’s going to be pretty awful,” Bishop Wright said.

“In the first instance, the community will be appalled, outraged, angry, sympathetic and all the rest of it. And for people who have not had their minds turned too much to this whole issue, I think it’s going to be very hard to avoid it in the coming time.

“There will be a lot of stories that will be very grim for people to hear and there will be a lot of anger ­directed, and fair enough, at the ­perpetrators. But this will also be directed at the church and, as time goes on, other institutions which have dealt badly with these things.”

Held in the Newcastle Supreme Court by Commissioner Margaret Cunneen SC, the hearings are part of the special commission of inquiry into matters relating to the police investigation of certain child sexual abuse allegations in the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.

The hearings will continue until May 17 and will resume again on June 24 until July 12. The special commission of inquiry will work with the National Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Former Maitland detectives Peter Fox, Mark Watters and Wayne Humphrey will be called as witnesses. 

“It has rightly been said that child sexual abuse is no longer a crime in which the conspiracy of silence ­continues to the grave,” Ms Cunneen said.

“Children are inherently vulner­able and innocent. The sexual abuse of children is abhorrent. It exploits their vulnerability, irreparably ­damages their innocence and casts a shadow over their whole lives.

“It can be very difficult for ­children to break their silence about sexual abuse and, when they do, the collective responsibility to take action weighs heavily on us all. When sexual abuse is committed by those in positions of trust and authority, it is even more abhorrent.

“This inquiry provides an important opportunity for persons who held relevant positions within the Catholic Church to come forward and provide information to the inquiry about relevant matters that occurred in the past.”

The special commission was established on November 21 last year. Since then a large number of summonses have been issued.

Deceased priests Denis McAlinden and James Fletcher have been recognised as having ­committed sexual abuse against children while serving in – or being incardinated to – the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese.

The inquiry was announced against the background of the existing police investigation Strike Force Lantle into alleged concealment offences by officials of the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese.

“I am acutely aware of the sensitivities of the issues before the inquiry and the intense ­public interest in the final report,” Ms Cunneen said.

Premier Barry O’Farrell announced the special commission of inquiry on November 9, 2012, following allegations made to the media by Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox about matters relating to the police investigation of certain child sexual abuse allegations in the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.

Bishop Wright came to the diocese in 2011 following the resignation of Bishop Michael Malone.

“It ([he level of abuse] has taken me a bit by surprise,” Bishop Wright said.

“I was aware, coming here that the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese had a particular history in these matters but it has amazed me how many of the different towns, suburbs and communities are very directly affected. 

“The consciousness of the abuse here is very front of mind, which it’s not in other places, so I was surprised at how alive and lively this issue was and how pervasive it is here.

“This is a community with a developed understanding of the impact of this on people.”

The bishop remains unsure whether he will be called to take part in the inquiry.

“I may well be called,” he said.

“The commission has a wide term of reference and they’ll decide what they want to look at. If they come to focus on us I’ll probably get the call up. They have summonsed documents from certain places, but the commission hasn’t come knocking on our door yet so we’ll see.”

Ultimately, Bishop Wright hopes the inquiry will yield a sense 

of understanding across the community.

“There is going to be a lot of hurt and a lot of outrage, but I hope in the end we have a community that has a lot more understanding, maybe a community where what child abuse has been all about is better understood, so that it’s a safer place for children,” he said.  

“There will be a lot of short-term pain for a lot of ­people and I hope, and I expect ­really, that in the long-term this will be a cathartic sort of thing and a good thing for the community to have heard the stories.”