A senior Maitland Newcastle Catholic Church official told a special commission of inquiry today that he knew of rumours circulating about paedophile priest Denis McAlinden in the 1980s and was warned by a Hunter primary school principal to "be careful with him around children".
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Father James Saunders, who was Vicar General to Bishop Michael Malone in 2001, said the bishop warned him about "vague assertions" to do with the behaviour of convicted priest James Fletcher when he began the job but couldn't recall whether he told him about McAlinden.
Father Saunders shared a parish with McAlinden for a year in the 1970s but said the only warning he received from the then Bishop Leo Clarke was that he might be a "difficult man".
After some time with the priest he took that to mean he had a "ferocious temper".
He said he was warned by a school principal: "You have to be careful with him [McAlinden] around children," but could not remember the date.
Father Saunders, who is now aged in his 70s, had difficulty remembering events and meetings put to him during this morning's cross-examination.
The commission of inquiry, which is investigating an alleged church cover-up of child sexual abuse, has been extended for a further week until Thursday, August 1.
