A Branxton primary school principal denies Michael Malone warned him about paedophile priest James Fletcher in 2002, telling the special commission of inquiry he was not at the school on the day the bishop claims to have met him.
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Returning to the witness box for the second week, the former bishop of the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese, Michael Malone (pictured), was adamant that he met with William Callinan at St Brigid’s in Branxton on June 20, 2002, and told him to keep the priest away from students.
He told the inquiry he met with Mr Callinan after Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox informed him Fletcher had been accused of
sexually abusing a boy and requested he be stood down.
Under brief cross-examination, Mr Callinan’s counsel, William Potter, suggested to Bishop Malone he did not meet with Mr Callinan in 2002 and falsified a diary entry about the meeting when the NSW Ombudsman’s Office informed him it would be investigating how the church dealt with Fletcher.
Mr Potter said the bishop could not have met with Mr Callinan, who was working at St Catherine’s in Greta on the day, also as principal.
He put it to the bishop that he had amended the entry some months later because he was worried he was going to come under criticism by the Ombudsman.
The inquiry heard Bishop Malone told the Ombudsman on December 2, 2003, that his diary entry might be useful and faxed it to the him the following day.
The bishop denied Mr Potter’s suggestion the final entry on the page, “trip to Branxton to see Jim Fletcher plus Will C”, was added in different pen.
“To me it all looks the same,” said the bishop, who added that he had a clear memory of visiting the school in the afternoon because he could remember parents waiting at the gates.
He agreed that he phoned Mr Callinan in March 2003 to say Fletcher had been stood down, but did not recall telling the principal that the Ombudsman was not happy with the bishop’s conduct in the Fletcher investigation.
Mr Potter said the call was the first time his client had heard reference to a discussion about Fletcher the previous year.
When asked if he controlled the finances of the two schools and had the power to see Mr Callinan lose his job the bishop replied: “That’s a bit rough ... you’re suggesting I intimidated Mr Callinan and I would never have done that.”
Mr Callinan has not given evidence at the inquiry.
Earlier in the day, Vacy man Peter Gogarty – who was sexually abused by James Fletcher as a child – cross-examined the bishop.
Representing himself, Mr Gogarty asked Bishop Malone why he doubled the size of Fletcher’s parish if he was concerned about the priest’s ailing health.
The bishop said that at the time, he had hoped the work load wouldn’t affect the priest and told him to share responsibility.
Bishop Malone told the inquiry he wrote a media release in April 2005 calling for acceptance of victims because he became aware that during the investigation of Fletcher one of his victims had been ostracised and his family intimidated.
The bishop said the question of Fletcher’s guilt strongly divided parishioners and eggs had been thrown at the bishop’s home in Hamilton and the homes of victims in “quasi violent” attacks.
When Mr Gogarty asked if he knew how child sexual abuse affected the victims, Bishop Malone said he was aware it traumatised them and left them with a sense of betrayal and fear they may not be believed if they reported the abuse.
In an announcement to the media after his evidence, Bishop Malone apologised for what he described as a “flippant comment”, during last week’s hearings, that he should have destroyed documents on Denis McAlinden and James Fletcher.
