Australian bishop Christopher Saunders charged with 19 sexual offences

By Joseph Tulloch

Bishop Christopher Saunders, emeritus of Broome in western Australia, was arrested on Wednesday.

He was reportedly released on bail on Thursday and ordered to reside at his home until his next hearing in June.

He is charged with two counts of rape, 14 counts of unlawful and indecent assault, and three counts of indecently dealing with a child as a person in authority.

In a statement, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, the President of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, said the allegations were “very serious and deeply distressing, especially for those making those allegations.”

“It is right and proper, and indeed necessary, that all such allegations be thoroughly investigated."

“The Church,” Archbishop Costelloe concluded, “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.”

Ongoing investigation

Accusations were first made against Bishop Emeritus Broome in 2020.

An initial police investigation was closed without charge, but Pope Francis then ordered a canonical investigation according to the provisions of Vos estis lux mundi, his 2019 motu proprio on combatting sexual abuse.  

The investigation was overseen by Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane but was carried out by independent investigators, and terminated in a 200-page report.

After this report was handed over to Australian police, they opened a new investigation into Bishop Emeritus Saunders. It is as part of this investigation that he has now been charged. 

The bishop resigned from his post in 2020.