Former Catholic bishop sentenced for abusing indigenous men in Australia

The Catholic Church in Australia has been marred by abuse allegations in recent years. A former Roman Catholic bishop has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison for sexually abusing two young indigenous men in Western Australia. Seventy-six year old Christopher Saunders was sentenced by the District Court of Western Australia and showed no reaction during Wednesday’s sentencing hearing. In August, a court found Saunders guilty of one count of sexual penetration without consent and 12 counts of indecent assault. The offences took place between 2010 and 2019 when he was bishop of Broome, a remote diocese in northwestern Australia. Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, issued a statement apologising for the pain and suffering Saunders inflicted on victims, saying their trust had been “profoundly betrayed by a leader of the Church”.

Saunders was ordained a priest in 1976 and initially worked at mission stations in outback regions from the 1970s onwards. In the 1990s, he was appointed bishop of Broome by Pope John Paul II. Following the abuse allegations, Saunders suspended his duties in 2020 and in August 2021 Pope Francis accepted his resignation. The clergyman has consistently denied the allegations. It was revealed in court that the bishop had groomed his victims. He is said to have regularly invited young indigenous