Hunter priest quits parish over Special Commission of Inquiry

By Joanne Mccarthy
Newcastle Herald
June 10, 2014

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/2342882/hunter-priest-quits-parish-over-special-commission-of-inquiry/?cs=391

Father Des Harrigan, who has resigned from the Taree parish.

HUNTER Catholic priest Des Harrigan has resigned from his Taree parish after controversy over his appearance at the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry in Newcastle.

Father Harrigan declined to comment on Monday, but a spokeswoman for Maitland-Newcastle Bishop Bill Wright confirmed the resignation.

It followed an angry response from Taree parishioners after the bishop wrote a letter urging them to forgive the "repentant" priest because "there is more joy in heaven over one repentant sinner than 99 just people".

Bishop Wright, named as a possible replacement for Cardinal George Pell in the Sydney archdiocese, reinstated Father Des Harrigan to Taree parish in September last year despite noting the likelihood of "concern and distress" among some parishioners about the priest's conduct.

The diocese said Father Harrigan "chose to refrain from entering schools and giving homilies" after his evidence to the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry in July about owning adult male pornography.

The diocese confirmed he had also been the subject of complaints about his "temperament and style". Father Harrigan has not been the subject of any child sexual abuse allegations.

A Taree parishioner said she had genuine concerns about Father Harrigan's health.

The woman said it was unfair of the bishop to "send a vulnerable man back into a community that is itself struggling to deal with the whole situation".

Hamilton woman Audrey Nash and Morpeth man Bob O'Toole have called on the bishop to stand down Newcastle priests Allan Hart and Bill Burston after adverse findings about both men in the commission of inquiry's final report.