AUSTRALIA
The Australian
Jared Owens
From:The Australian
July 03, 2012
[Unholy Silence – ABC Four Corners]
THREE senior Catholic clerics who investigated alleged sexual abuse may have covered up a priest’s confessions that he assaulted five young altar boys in the 1980s, some of whom later committed suicide.
The church’s investigative panel was convened in 1992 to assess allegations of abuse levelled against a single priest over his time at Moree, in northern NSW, and at Sydney’s Parramatta diocese.
ABC-TV’s Four Corners last night revealed stark inconsistencies between the panel’s internal report, and a file note created at the time and referred to in public.
The panel comprised current Australian Catholic Bishops Conference general-secretary Brian Lucas, current Armidale vicar-general Wayne Peters and another priest, John Usher.
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