AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail
By FREYA NOBLE FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
A Victorian bishop who moved pedophile priests as he tried to protect the Catholic Church’s reputation has died of cancer.
Retired Ballarat bishop Ronald Mulkearns, 85, died on Monday morning after a battle with advanced colon cancer, the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat confirmed.
Bishop Mulkearns – know as the ‘keeper of secrets’ – was a bishop in Ballarat from 1971-1997, and knowingly moved pedophile priests, including Gerald Francis Ridsdale, between parishes.
He died before he could finish giving evidence to the child abuse royal commission.
Bishop Mulkearns appeared before the commission via videolink from his Ballarat nursing home in February, but his questioning finished after 90 minutes on doctor’s advice.
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