AUSTRALIA
news.com.au
AUGUST 9, 2016
By Annette Blackwell
AAP
An Anglican bishop baulked at having to defrock an influential senior cleric for sexual misconduct even though a church hearing had recommended he do so, a royal commission has been told.
The commission has been hearing complex and startling evidence on how the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle allegedly took a “do nothing” approach for decades to allegations of widespread child sex abuse by its clergy.
On Tuesday, abuse survivor CKH told how Bishop Brian Farran met him in 2012 and cried over the difficult decision he faced – whether to defrock the former dean of Newcastle Cathedral, Graeme Lawrence.
Bishop Farran was in charge of the dioceses from 2005 to 2012 and will give evidence at this hearing.
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