Broome bishop preyed on young Aboriginal males: Vatican investigators

A longstanding bishop spent thousands a month on cash payments, phones, alcohol and cigarettes for ‘vulnerable’ Aboriginal men and boys.

Former Bishop of Broome Christopher Saunders. Picture: Colin Murty

A longstanding Catholic bishop of Broome was a “predator” who sexually assaulted four Aboriginal men and boys and groomed dozens more, the Vatican’s own investigation has found.

Christopher Saunders, who spent decades serving the church in Broome before resigning in the wake of alleged sexual misconduct and bullying, hosted multiple “bunga bunga” parties for him and young Aboriginal men and boys at various church properties, according to Vatican investigators.

The investigation under the Vatican’s Vos Estis Lux Mundi papal inquiry powers also found Bishop Saunders spent thousands of dollars of church money each month on cash payments, mobile phones, alcohol and cigarettes for “vulnerable” Aboriginal men and boys.

The bishop strongly denied the allegations when the Vos Estis Lux Mundi investigation – the first of its kind in Australia – was first announced and police have not charged him in relation to any of the allegations.

Extracts from the 200-page ­report prepared by the Vatican’s investigators and obtained by The Australian detail how they identified 67 Aboriginal boys and men who they said may have been subjected to delictual acts or grooming behaviours by the bishop. “It has been established through the interview of witnesses and examination of documentary and other evidence that Bishop Christopher Saunders has developed a modus operandi of grooming young Aboriginal men for sex during his time within the Kimberley Region, both as a Priest and as Bishop,” the report says.

The investigation was based on dozens of interviews with witnesses, including previous secretaries of the bishop, alleged victims and past and present members of the clergy.

“The Bishop has been variously described by witnesses as having two personalities, one of a wonderful orator and strong leader yet the other of a sexual predator that seeks to prey upon vulnerable ­Aboriginal men and boys and ­attack any person that challenges his behaviour or attempts to jeopardise the flow of church funds required to facilitate it,” the report said.

“Many of the church community that have stood up, over the years, against the Bishop and his behaviours have either lost their jobs, lost their faith, or suffered both psychological and reputational damage and some continue to live in fear of the Bishop and his followers while he remains in the Broome Diocese.”

The Vatican’s report was also critical of the West Australian police investigation into Bishop Saunders’ alleged offending. The first complaint about the bishop was made in 2018 when a 27-year-old man told a Catholic priest at Halls Creek that he had been sexually abused by Bishop Saunders from the age of 16. Police began investigating, and by March 2020 Bishop Saunders had stood aside from the ­administration of the diocese. By May 2021, however, police had decided not to press criminal charges as the ages of the victims at the time of the alleged acts were unable to be substantiated through evidence at that time.

The allegations first came to light in a Channel 7 news report in 2020. Channel 7 ­reported that Bishop Saunders ordered his staff to collect and burn hundreds of office documents, files and photographs after the network first aired the abuse allegations. The Vatican’s investigators said police had “mishandled” the inquiry for various reasons, “including limited resourcing and competing priorities, a lack of will by senior management to tackle the systemic issues, a strained ­relationship between police and the Kimberley Aboriginal Legal Service and evidence gaps relating to establishing the ages of the victims at the time of the alleged offences”.

Bishop Saunders started working in Broome as a deacon in 1975. He was named Bishop of Broome in 1995, taking on responsibility for what is one of the church’s biggest dioceses in the world by land mass.

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference late on Monday released a statement describing the allegations as “very serious and deeply distressing, especially for those making the allegations”.

It said the independent report had been provided to the Holy See, with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith continuing the investigation.

“We will respect the enduring confidential nature of this process by not commenting on specific allegations that have been raised,” it said.

“Bishop Saunders, who has maintained his innocence, is able to respond to the report by communicating directly with the Holy See. In due time, the Holy See will make its determinations. It is hoped that this will not be unduly delayed.”

The bishop declined to be ­interviewed by the investigators.