English bishop put others at risk, report finds
June 13, 2023
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CWN Editor's Note: Bishop Robert Byrne, who resigned in December 2022 as bishop of Hexham and Newcastle after only three years in office, put people at risk of being sexually abused, a report by the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency has found.
Bishop Byrne, himself accused of abuse, promoted a priest to dean of the cathedral despite a “clear pattern of grooming behavior over the years.” (That priest later committed suicide.) Bishop Byrne was also faulted for maintaining a close friendship with a priest convicted of possessing images of child pornography.
Archbishop Malcolm McMahon, OP, the diocese’s apostolic administrator, had requested the report in December; he said that he accepted all of the report’s recommendations.
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