Noting that it is “right and proper, and indeed necessary, that all such allegations be thoroughly investigated,” Costelloe expressed that the Church “will continue to cooperate fully with the police and take every necessary step to avoid any actions which may compromise the integrity and autonomy of the police investigation.”
Saunders was ordained to the priesthood in 1976. Before he was appointed the bishop of Broome in 1996, he had several assignments with aboriginal parishes.
The Diocese of Broome, a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Perth, is located in the remote northwestern region of Kimberley in the state of Western Australia and covers an area of approximately 297,000 square miles.
Allegations were first made in 2020 against Saunders, who took a step back from the active governance of the diocese later that year. He formally resigned in 2021, citing “ill health.”
After an initial police investigation did not result in any charges against Saunders, Pope Francis ordered a canonical investigation — the first of its kind in Australia — following his 2019 motu proprio Vos Estis Lux Mundi, which established a new set of norms for the universal Church concerning the procedural handling of sexual abuse cases.
The investigation was overseen by Archbishop Mark Coleridge of the Archdiocese of Brisbane but carried out by private investigators, culminating in a 200-page report.
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