AUSTRALIA
ABC News
By Mazoe Ford
The Catholic Church has reached a confidential settlement with two sisters who say they were sexually abused by a priest in the Maitland-Newcastle diocese in the 1970s and 80s.
The sisters, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said they were abused by Father Dennis McAlinden, who died in a nursing home in 2005 without ever being charged.
They were suing both the estate of the late Bishop Leo Clarke, who was in charge at the time of the alleged crimes, as well as the trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.
But yesterday Justice Peter Garling urged the parties to settle the case outside court so the women would not “be unnecessarily put in distress”.
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