- Written by Tiffany Turnbull
- BBC News, Sydney
image source, National Catholic Education Board Conference
Christopher Saunders voluntarily resigned as Bishop Broome in 2020
Bishop Christopher Saunders of Australia has been charged with rape and a series of sexual offenses, some against children.
The 74-year-old was arrested in Broome, Western Australia, on Wednesday after parallel investigations ordered by police and the Pope.
Mr Saunders denies the charges but has been refused bail and will face 19 charges in court on Thursday.
He is one of the oldest Catholics ever to be charged with this type of crime.
The crimes he is accused of committing include two counts of rape, 14 counts of unlawful indecent assault and three counts of indecent acts against a child while under authority.
Mr Saunders, who was first ordained in 1976, spent most of his career in the remote Kimberley region of the north-west of the country, and was appointed Bishop of Broome in 1996.
Over the years, he has faced a double investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by several Indigenous men from communities within the diocese.
The accusations were first aired in 2020, but an initial police investigation subsequently ended without charges.
He voluntarily stepped down as Bishop of Broome in 2020 but remains Bishop Emeritus.
But after a historic investigation was ordered by the Pope and its 200-page report was later leaked to the media last year, police launched a new investigation.
There have only been a few inquiries worldwide regarding Vos Estis Lux Mundi. The Vos Estis inquiry, which means “you are the light of the world” in Latin, was commissioned by the Pope and introduced in 2019 to combat sexual abuse and take action against bishops and other senior officials in the Catholic Church. Ta.
Only the pope can appoint or dismiss bishops.