AUSTRALIA
The Guardian (UK)
Australian Associated Press
theguardian.com, Wednesday 18 June 2014
The former NSW premier, Barry O’Farrell, has called for a high-ranking Catholic priest to be sacked from a key leadership position for not reporting child sexual abuse to police.
In a speech to parliament on Tuesday night, O’Farrell called for Father Brian Lucas, the general secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference, to be stood down.
The former leader made the comments while criticising the church’s response to Commissioner Margaret Cunneen’s damning report in late May into an alleged cover-up of child sexual abuse in the Catholic diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.
Lucas gave evidence in Canberra on Tuesday at the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.
“He is also a lawyer, which is a relevant fact because he, more than anyone involved in the sorry, squalid and scandalous saga, should have respected the law and reported illegal activities to police,” O’Farrell said.
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