THE retired former bishop of Maitland-Newcastle, Michael Malone, has given a short stint of evidence to the Royal Commission, which has just broken for lunch.
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Before he gave his evidence, the chairman of the commission, Justice Peter McClellan asked the bishop: “I take it, bishop, that what you say in that statement is true, is it?”
“Yes, your honour.”
Bishop Malone said he had no familiarity at all with the Maitland-Newcastle diocese before he was appointed, from Broken Bay, as coadjutor bishop, which meant he had the right of succession once the existing bishop, Leo Clarke, retired.
Bishop Malone, who served as Maitland-Newcastle bishop from 1995 to 2011, said bishop Clarke probably wanted one of his own, rather than a complete outsider, to succeed him, and they had little to do with each other.
He said he went on holidays in October 1995 and that father Vince Ryan was arrested while he was away.
He had heard nothing about Ryan before his arrest.
He had known him since their days, in different years, at seminary school, but had no knowledge of his abuse or of complaints against him.
Bishop Clarke also resigned while he was on holidays, but Bishop Malone told counsel assisting, Stephen Free, that he did not think that the bishop’s resignation was related to the Ryan matter.
Asked if he had any reason to believe the two were connected, he said: “No. No clue whatsoever about that.”
Earlier, the commission heard from a teacher, Dr Christopher Hallinan, who was a young probationary teacher at St Joseph’s Merewether in 1975 when students said that Ryan had abused them.
Dr Hallinan insisted that the school principal at the time, Sister Margaret-Anne Geatches, told him not to talk about the matter.
“She directed me to stop talking to the children and the parents. I don’t recall her exact words but she said something like it was a church matter and I was not to take any further part in it,” Dr Hallinan said.
Questioned by Jane Needham for the diocese, Dr Hallinan disagreed with her contention that Sister Geatches had only wanted to stop the children from being “further upset”.
He said she said it was a church matter and that “there was no further need for me to take part”.
The hearing will resume on Thursday afternoon.
