AUSTRALIA
Eastern Riverina Chronicle
Ken Grimson
15 Sep 2016
BISHOP Gerard Hanna has spoken of being forced to work with suspected paedophile priest John Farrell and of the tight restrictions he placed on him.
The retiring Bishop of Wagga diocese was questioned about Farrell on Wednesday at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
The bishop said he was parish priest of St Nicholas’ in Tamworth in 1984 when Farrell was foisted on him by Bishop Henry Kennedy amid rumours of inappropriate behaviour following his overnight removal from Moree.
He said Bishop Kennedy gave him no details of the allegations, saying only that Farrell was “high risk, you have to watch him and put him on restricted ministry.”
Bishop Hanna told counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness, he imposed tight restrictions on Farrell’s movements that kept him out of schools and away from altar boys.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.