Inquiry focus falls on scandal-hit Newcastle diocese

By Dan Box
Australian
March 19, 2015

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/inquiry-focus-falls-on-scandal-hit-newcastle-diocese/story-fngburq5-1227268541519

A ROYAL commission plans to hold a public hearing into church child abuse in Newcastle after gathering evidence of past crimes by priests of two churches.

The move comes after NSW Police this week charged the Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide, Philip Wilson, with allegedly concealing abuse by a pedophile priest when both men were working in the area during the 1970s.

As the most senior Catholic ­official internationally to face such a charge, the decision to prosecute the archbishop, revealed by The Australian, made world headlines.

Some Catholic schools in Adelaide asked parents and students to pray for the archbishop, who has denied the allegation and will ­appear in court next month.

In an email sent hours after the formal charge on Tuesday, Nazareth Catholic Community director Michael Dahl asked parents of the school’s 1300 pupils to “keep (the) archbishop in your prayers”.