The emeritus bishop of Broome, a diocese located in the remote northwest of Australia, Christopher Saunders, began this week to be tried by the District Court of Western Australia, in Perth, accused of 26 sexual offenses allegedly committed against three young Aboriginal people between 2008 and 2017. The prelate, 76, who led the diocese between 1996 and 2021, has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The trial, expected to last three weeks, constitutes the latest chapter in a case that for years has shaken the Australian Church and led the Vatican to order an unprecedented canonical investigation in the country. Meanwhile, the procedure opened in the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith remains suspended until the criminal case concludes.
The prosecution accuses the bishop of abusing three young people
In its opening statement, the prosecution maintained that Saunders organized meetings with young Aboriginal people at various diocesan properties spread across the Kimberley region and that he allegedly used that environment to recruit some of the alleged victims.
The 26 charges include two for sexual penetration without consent, three for indecent acts with a minor, and fourteen for indecent assault, in addition to other offenses related to the same facts.
Most of the accusations refer to a complainant who was between 16 and 17 years old when he met the then-bishop. According to the prosecution, Saunders allegedly gained his trust through gifts before committing the alleged abuses in different locations, including the episcopal residence in Broome, a hotel in Kununurra, and the mission in Kalumburu. The other two complainants were also young when the alleged incidents occurred.
One of them testified via videoconference during the second day of the trial and stated that he complied with the bishop’s requests because he considered him “the boss.”
The defense denies all accusations
Defense attorney Tony Hager rejected all charges on behalf of Saunders and asked the jury not to be influenced by possible prejudices against the Catholic Church. According to the defense, the case boils down to conflicting versions between the complainants and the accused.
During the trial, former workers from the Diocese of Broome are expected to testify, as well as the bishop of Geraldton, Msgr. Michael Morrissey, who served as apostolic administrator of the diocese after Saunders’ departure.
The investigation ordered by Rome reopened the case
The first complaints against Saunders became public in 2020, when accusations also emerged regarding the alleged use of diocesan funds to provide money, mobile phones, alcohol, and trips to vulnerable young Aboriginal people.
That same year the bishop left the pastoral governance of the diocese, and in 2021 he submitted his resignation citing health reasons. An initial police investigation was closed that same year due to insufficient evidence.
However, in 2022 the Holy See ordered a canonical investigation into his conduct, the first conducted in Australia under the motu proprio Vos estis lux mundi, promulgated by Pope Francis to investigate complaints against bishops.
The report prepared by the Vatican investigators, approximately 200 pages long, was later sent to the Australian Police, which led to the reopening of the criminal investigation and culminated in the bishop’s arrest in February 2024. The findings were also sent to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which has kept the canonical procedure suspended until there is a final judicial resolution.
The diocese remained without a bishop for three years
Following Saunders’ indictment, the Australian Episcopal Conference publicly reiterated its full cooperation with the justice system and recalled the need to rigorously investigate all abuse complaints. In the same vein, the then-apostolic administrator of Broome, Msgr. Michael Morrissey, insisted that the protection of minors and vulnerable adults constitutes the Church’s highest priority.
The Diocese of Broome, which serves around 12,000 Catholics spread across a vast region of northwest Australia, remained without a residential bishop for three years after Saunders’ resignation. The situation was normalized in 2024 with the installation of Msgr. Timothy Norton, of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD), ending a long period of vacant see. Meanwhile, the trial against Christopher Saunders will continue over the coming weeks, and it will be the Australian justice system that determines his criminal responsibility.