Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle is a suffragan Latin Rite diocese of the Archdiocese of Sydney, established in 1847, initially as the Diocese of Maitland and changed to the current name in 1995. The diocese covers the Hunter and Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales .

Unfortunately, the diocese has been referred to as Australia’s major centre for clerical abuse of children. It has been the playground for a number of paedophile priests with extensive abuse records of which many have been sentenced and jailed since 1997. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heavily scrutinised the Diocese in Case Study No. 43 and looked in particular at the response of the Marist Brothers to allegations of child sexual abuse made against Marist Brothers including Francis Cable (Brother Romuald) , Father James Patrick Fletcher, Father Peter Brock, Brother Thomas ‘Patrick’ Butler, Brother Dominic Gleeson, Father Denis McAlinden and Father Vincent Ryan. In short, the Royal Commission found the alleged history of abuse within Maitland-Newcastle diocese went beyond the actions of just a few, and that Church officials knew about sexual abuse allegations against priests for decades and failed to act.

Moody Law (formerly Artemis Legal) has represented and is still representing clients who were victims of child sexual abuse within the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.

We invite former victims to contact us to tell us confidentially what information they may have, and we will explain what options are available to help with these cases.

Call us or complete the confidential enquiry form below.