AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald
IAN KIRKWOOD
16 Nov 2016
THE Royal Commission has reopened in Sydney with a combative cross-examination of Newcastle solicitor and prominent lay Anglican figure Robert Caddies over letters that he and others signed complaining about the Bishop of Newcastle, Greg Thompson.
One letter was sent to the Royal Commission and others were sent to senior Anglican figures known as the Metropolitan and the Primate.
In the letter to the commission, Mr Caddies had complained that Bishop Thompson had potentially put youth in the church at risk by not reporting an allegation that he had been groomed and sexually abused by Bishop Ian Shevill and another senior priest of the diocese when he was 19 years old.
Under intense questioning from the commission chairman, Peter McClellan, and from counsel assisting, Naomi Sharp, Mr Caddies denied he was trying to “undermine” the bishop, although he agreed he was “drawing attention to” matters he believed were impairing Bishop Thompson’s performance as bishop.
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