New Bishop Appointed in the Region

BY ALEXANDRA REES

Bishop Michael Kennedy from Armidale, has been named the new bishop of the Diocese of Maitland Newcastle. 

It follows the untimely death of Bishop Bill Wright in 2021. 

Bishop Kennedy said "I willingly and heartily accept this new appointment, knowing that like all new endeavors, it will hold both joys and challenges."

"To be the chief pastor leading a diocese in worship, teaching, evangelization and governance is an awesome privilege and responsibility" he said. 

Pope Francis made the official announcement in Rome yesterday. 

Bishop Kennedy will be the ninth Bishop for the Diocese. 

 

Bishop Michael Kennedy

 

Former Catholic Brother Charged With Additional Indecent Assault Offences in Newcastle

BY ISABEL EVERETT

A former Catholic Brother has been charged with additional historical indecent assault offences allegedly committed in the Newcastle region.

In 2012, Strike Force Georgiana detectives commenced investigations into alleged child indecent assaults committed by a former Catholic Brother.

As part of inquiries, an 84-year-old man was charged in March 2017.

Following further inquiries, strike force detectives arrested the man, now aged 88, at a correctional facility at Silverwater yesterday (Monday 17 August 2020).

He was charged with three counts of indecent assault on a male.

The charges relate to alleged assaults against a boy in the early 1970s.

The man was remanded in custody to appear at Newcastle Local Court on Thursday.

Coronavirus Closes Churches While Councils Fight to Stay Open

BY MEGHAN RICHARDSON

As the Coronavirus situation continues to evolve, many local organisations and councils have been forced to review their regular programs and events.

The reshuffle follows after the federal government announced that "non-essential" gatherings of more than 100 people are banned.

Many religious organisations have said they will close their doors to keep their followers safe.

This includes the mosque at Wallsend which has suspended regular services until further notice.

Similarly, Catholic and Anglican churches reported they will also shutting down and temporarily stopping all Sunday services.

However, religious schools in the area are to remain open.

Catholic Schools around Newcastle and Maitland said they will stay open until the 9th of April.

While Anglican schools around the Hunter have stated they are currently open but continue to evaluate the situation daily.

The Coronavirus has also threatened to close many local community events and activities.

Newcastle council said Blackbutt Reserve's bushland will remain open, but services requiring staff to interact with the public are suspended.

Meanwhile, Maitland City Council has addressed the uncertainty and said all council facilities will remain open but public programs across the libraries, pools, and art gallery have been suspended.

The council also announced that the annual Street Eats event is still set to go ahead on April 3rd, but the event will be split across several sites in order to promote social distancing.

Hunter Sexual Abuse Survivor says New Reforms Should Lead to More Convictions

BY ISABEL EVERETT

Hunter survivor of child sexual abuse, Peter Gogarty, has welcomed reforms introduced to State Parliament today which will allow jurors to be told about an accused abusers prior convictions.

The changes in legislation are expected to remove a significant barrier preventing child sex offenders from being held to account and leading to ‘unwarranted acquittals’. 

University of Newcastle Criminologist, Peter Gogarty, suffered sexual abuse as a child from a member of the Catholic Church and says these reforms should dramatically increase convictions in the cases of other survivors. 

"These sorts of crimes happen very much in private so it becomes an I said, he said sort of scenario which has always worked to the benefit of the perpetrator," he said. 

"So now we have the potential for other victims of that same person to have their evidence heard in court. The value of that in terms of proving the behavior of a pedophile will have a dramatic improvement in having convictions of these people."

A Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard about many criminal proceedings in which evidence of an accused person previously offending against children was ruled inadmissible due to courts’concerns that it may unfairly prejudice the accused person. 

Mr Gogarty said the removal of these proceedings would have allowed him to provide evidence on his own abuser, which would have assisted in his conviction. 

"In my own case, I was prepared to give evidence against Father James Fletcher in somebody else's matter. The judge at the time thought my tendency evidence didn't have sufficient value under the legislation as it then existed," he said. 

"If that exact same case was to happen today, my evidence would have been admitted, the jury would hear that and I think that would result in more convictions and probably stronger sentences." 

NSW is the first Australian jurisdiction to introduce agreed legislation enabling greater admissibility of tendency and coincidence evidence, such as evidence about an accused person’s tendency to have a sexual interest in children. 

"The NSW Attorney General, Mark Speakmen has been pushing other States to follow suit. I'm confident that they will do that," Mr Gogarty said. 

Mr Gogarty says the reform is an amazing step forward, however there are still significant changes which need to be made. 

 "I think the other big issue that remains is the protection that is still afforded to the seal of the Confessional in the Catholic Church."

 "I know that the Attorney General is looking at that. I think they need to be bold and brave and say that protection no longer exists in the confessional when someone confesses to a child sexual assault."

                                     Survivor Peter Gogarty Image Credit: Maitland Mercury

Catholic Archbishop Bows To Pressure And Resigns Over Concealment Conviction

BY IAN CROUCH

The Pope has accepted the resignation of Adelaide Archbishop, Philip Wilson after he was found guilty of concealing child sex abuse in the Hunter.

Wilson had been resisting calls for him to quit, insisting he would not step aside until his legal options were exhausted.

The 67-year-old is the most senior Catholic cleric to be convicted of not disclosing abuse by another priest to police.

In a statement Philip Wilson said he hoped his resignation would be a catalyst to heal pain and distress caused by his conviction

He is appealing his 12 month sentence.

Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson

Catholic Church Under Fire For Sale of Former Empire Hotel

BY MADELAINE MCNEILL

The Maitland-Newcastle Diocese has come under fire for selling the former Empire Hotel site where they had planned to construct affordable housing.

Diocese Vice Chancellor Administration, Sean Scanlon, says a 'frenzy of activity' within the local building industry has raised construction costs, and building affordable housing on the Hunter Street site became infeasible.

Labor Deputy Lord Mayor Declan Clausen has accused the Church of 'land-banking' by selling the property after receiving approval to build in December, but Mr Scanlon denied the accusation.

He says the decision to sell came down to struggles with cost constraints and a lack of support.

"(Construction costs were) something like $7 million higher than we first anticipated. That made the project effectively unviable," said Mr Scanlon.

"It needs to be viable to be affordable to the ultimate recipients of that housing, and that made it extremely difficult for this to work."

The Church was successful in having infrastructure provision fees discounted due to the affordable housing component of the project, but extra financial help was denied by the Hunter Development Corporation and Newcastle City Council.

"We didn't look to sell this, necessarily," explained Mr Scanlon. "Without us prompting, the builders then approached us to see whether we would be willing to sell the property to them,"

"It seemed like a sensible thing for us to do."

The Catholic Church received a $5.5 million profit from the sale, which Mr Scanlon says will ultimately be put towards funding more positive activities in the community.

The Former Empire Hotel site on Hunter Street. Picture: theherald.com.au

Catholic church criticised for $38 million in property spending

BY MARISSA ALEXIOU

The Catholic Church has come under scrutiny for its recent spending on properties across the Hunter.

$38 million dollars has been spent in the last five years, with the church planning to develop affordable housing, a childcare centre, a high-school and other community facilities.

Analysis of Australian Property Monitors data has shown the church purchasing properties in Newcastle West, Gillieston Heights, Charlestown, Cessnock and Mount Hutton.

The criticism for the spending follows the finding the church misled the Royal Commission into Child Sex Abuse by undervaluing its property holdings across New South Wales and Victoria.

The church has been criticised for its lack of transparency regarding its wealth, claiming it would have to cut social programs to fund compensation payouts for sexual abuse survivors.

Greens MP David Shoebridge said $38 million dollars within a five year period is a significant expansion across the region.

"It comes at a time when the Diocese is saying it doesn't have the funds and it may not have the funds in the future to fairly compensate the survivors and children who they so seriously failed," he said.

David Shoebridge additionally criticised the church's government funding and lack of disclosure on where state and federal money was being spent.

"If any organisation is putting their hand up for that sort of public money and doing it on a tax-free basis, then they have an obligation to be much more transparent," he said.

David Shoebridge said it is unlikely the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese is the only Catholic diocese rapidly expanding.

"We've seen the church say what it normally does, that the public doesn't have the full information and that there is further financial transactions the public, state and federal government are unaware of and that comes back to the basic issue of transparency," he said.

2NURFM News contacted the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese for comment. They did not wish to comment any further than statements given to the Newcastle Herald.

"If the church is really going to convince the people of the Hunter it doesn't have the money to pay the survivors of child sexual abuse, then it needs to be 100% transparent," David Shoebridge said.