Damned Catoholics!!

[Aractus]

Are these the priests you were talking about Daniel?

It looks like in this case it was not done "quietly, and without controversy".

Correct. Did you watch the video in that link? If not you should.

There was some controversy within the Church. My understanding is that Farran was under a lot of pressure not to defrock them (read what the mayor said), which is what he alludes to in his statement. The police had already closed the case and moved on (to the horror of the families), they're only reopening the cases because the Church has decided to act on it. Notice how the mayor thought the actions were "disgraceful". If you ask me what's disgraceful are people like the mayor who wanted the Church to simply "do nothing" and wait for criminal prosecutions (which were not ever going to happen). The evidence the church has in the matter is clear cut.

I could be reading this wrong but it sounds like the bishop was reacting to the calls of the Royal Commission and this is why they were defrocked. Looks like the Catholics are not the only ones who like spin.

Believe me, this had nothing to do with it. No evidence was ever withheld from the police. The police had dropped their investigations into the priests. So the families went to the Church for action instead. The bishop was under enormous pressure from supporters of the priests not to act, he was certainly under no legal obligation to defrock them, ultimately he did what was right. As a direct result the police have indicated they will reopen their investigations.