Archbishop Philip Wilson was newly appointed to the Diocese of Wollongong when he received some disturbing reports about a local priest, the then Father John Gerard Nestor.
It was 1996 and Mr Nestor was already facing charges of sexually molesting a 15-year-old boy. He would later be convicted and then acquitted on appeal in 1997.
In the meantime, Archbishop Wilson was hearing complaints from other families about Father Nestor’s behaviour on the summer camps he ran in the early 1990s.
Complainants alleged Mr Nestor swam naked with boys, watched them showering and held competitions to “find the ‘hairiest arse’ and the ‘biggest dick’.”
Appearing before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Archbishop Wilson, now the Archbishop of Adelaide, shed light on the inner workings of the Catholic Church and its handling of priests accused of misconduct.
He told Mr Nestor to step aside in December 1997 while the allegations were investigated under canon law.
Acting on advice from the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - who went on to become Pope Benedict XVI - Archbishop Wilson was initially successful in prohibiting Mr Nestor from public ministry.
But his decree was opposed by the powerful Vatican-based Congregration for the Clergy, which oversees priestly ministry. The CFC overturned the decree in 2000 without examining the allegations against Mr Nestor, arguing that it did not comply with canon law.
“The CFC always came down on the side of the priest and the instructions they gave to the bishops were that what they had done had to be stopped or put aside and allow the priest to go back to the ministry,’’ he said.
Although he moved to Adelaide in early 2001, Archbishop Wilson was determined to contest the ruling.
“I felt I was bound in conscience in this case,’’ he said. “I would take the matter all the way to the Pope if necessary.
“I couldn’t allow Father Nestor to go back into the ministry because of all the issues associated with child protection.”
In the meantime, Mr Nestor left Wollongong and moved to the US, living abroad for five years until 2006.
The fight to oust Mr Nestor from the ministry continued, despite concerns about his behaviour with young boys first coming to light in 1991.
Mr Nestor was finally laicised by Pope Benedict in 2008, meaning he was effectively dismissed from the ministry.
Mr Nestor appealed the decision the following year but was told by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which oversees matters of sexual misconduct, that there was no recourse against the Pope’s decree.
The defrocked priest is not expected to appear before the Royal Commission.
The hearing, before chair Justice Peter McClellan, continues.
