AUSTRALIA
ABC News
By Dan Cox
A senior Catholic Church official says he was willing to risk breaking the law by not reporting child sexual abuse allegations against a Hunter Valley priest.
Father Brian Lucas is a former lawyer and the current general secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops conference.
He is giving evidence at the New South Wales inquiry investigating claims the church covered up abuse by two Maitland-Newcastle priests, Father James Fletcher and Father Denis McAlinden.
Father Lucas has told the inquiry he did not take notes during meetings to ensure they could not be used later in court.
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