One of Australia’s most senior Catholic bishops has apologised to priests and parishioners following the submission of petitions asking for him to step aside as leader of the church.
Key points:
- Hundreds of people have signed a petition asking for Bishop Gerard Holohan to step aside
- The bishop says “priests, in particular, were embarrassed” after he removed duties from a priest, Father Tony Chiera
- Bishop Holohan has apologised to Father Tony Chiera, saying he has done nothing wrong
Bishop Gerard Holohan sent a letter to people in the Bunbury Diocese in Western Australia on December 9, saying he was sorry for any of his actions that had caused “distress”.
He acknowledged that “priests, in particular, were embarrassed” after he removed duties from a priest, Father Tony Chiera.
It caused backlash from churchgoers who created petitions asking for the bishop to be removed from his role.
The apology comes as another priest, Father Gerald Tan, claimed the bishop had failed to effectively support him after Father Tan tried to take his life in 2019, suspending him from duties because suicide is considered a “sin” in the Catholic church.
Father Tan said the bishop had contacted his psychiatrist in search of “advice”, while also posting information about the incident on his official social media account.
Bishop Holohan has denied any wrongdoing over the handling of Father Tan’s case.
Bishop admits he was ‘mistaken’
In the recent letter, Bishop Holohan admitted the “cause of the controversy” was his decision to remove “much-loved” priest Father Chiera as the vicar general (second-in-charge to the bishop).
He said he had received legal advice that there was a conflict of interest issue with Father Chiera, who is understood to have supported a separate employee who had been stood down over COVID-19 vaccination mandates.
That matter is before the Industrial Relations Commission.
Internal emails seen by the ABC showed that the bishop had told priests Father Chiera was involved in the employee’s court case, but an email from Father Chiera said he was not involved, leaving some priests wondering why the bishop had made that claim.
Laws within the church state that a vicar general cannot go against a bishop.
“In hindsight, the way I tried to address the conflict of interest issue was mistaken,” Bishop Holohan wrote in his most recent letter.
“I should have found another way of doing so that avoided embarrassing anyone or attracting media interest.”
Bishop Holohan said he wanted to apologise to all in the diocese, including “priests and people” who had been hurt by the recent controversy.
He also apologised to Father Chiera and his friends and family and said people had been left “wondering about [Father Chiera’s] integrity” and questioning whether he had been involved in any wrongdoing.
Bishop Holohan said Father Chiera had done nothing wrong and that his good standing in the diocese had never been in question over his 40 years of service.
Bishop Holohan has been contacted for comment.
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