Former priest Julian Punch says community wants all plaques of Monsignor Philip Green to go

THE push to remove and destroy a sculpture depicting convicted sex offender Monsignor Phillip Green has broadened to getting rid of all plaques bearing his name.

Julian Punch signing copies of his book, Gay with God: The Life and Times of a Turbulent Priest, at a recent launch in Hobart. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

A PUSH to remove and destroy a sculpture depicting convicted sex offender Monsignor Philip Green has been broadened to removing all plaques bearing his name in Tasmanian hospitals, schools and churches.

Gay with God author Julian Punch, a former Catholic priest, says he has received messages of support for his push to remove all references to Green. The messages have come from Green’s victims, their loved ones and the broader Tasmanian community.

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A member of one victim’s family, who did not want to be named for fear of retribution, said the family supported the proposal wholeheartedly.

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“Sex offenders have historically been stripped of honours and awards once convicted,” they said.

A sculpture fixed to the side of Hobart’s St Mary's Cathedral that depicts former Monsignor Philip Green (left) will be removed.

Mr Punch has now called on Archbishop Julian Porteous to meet him and others to discuss the issue in a public forum.

“We have been told the statue at St Mary’s Cathedral will be removed this week,” Mr Punch said.

“That is one step but we want it to be destroyed and for other plagues bearing his name — like the one at Calvary Hospital — to be removed as well.”

The Archdiocese of Hobart this week said Archbishop Porteous would deal with any plaque or acknowledgment appropriately when he became aware of them.

In 2004, Green pleaded guilty to groping a grieving 22-year-old man and received a suspended three-month jail term.

In his book, Mr Punch alleges Green had other victims and said he too was sexually assaulted by Green in the late 1960s.

“Having the statue destroyed — perhaps melted down as it is copper — would give great consolation to victims,” Mr Punch said.

“We want to discuss the possible creation of an alternative sculpture to remember the victims of sexual abuse by Monsignor Green ...

“It is timely for a proactive program of apology and reparation to be developed in discussion with Catholics and the clergy.

“The Archbishop needs to provide the public and Catholic faithful with assurances that old threats and intimidation are not the way to deal with this terrible affliction in the Church.”