Local barrister heads Supreme Court writ action against head of Roman Catholic Church Pope Francis

Geelong-based David O'Brien was previously a member of the State Parliament legislative council representing Western Victoria, including his family's home town of Penshurst.

During his time in parliament he took part in the Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations which led to him representing victims in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Mr O'Brien is now regarded as a leading representative of victims of clergy abuse.

Late last week he argued in a Supreme Court directions hearing that two of his clients had the right to take legal action not only against Archbishop Peter Comensoli, but also Pope Francis in his capacity as the supreme pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church and as representative of previous popes.

His two victim, now aged in their 40s, were raped, abused and beaten by notorious pedophile priest Father Michael Glennon between 1983 and 1992 in the northern suburbs of Melbourne when they were aged between seven and 12 years.

The former priest pleaded guilty in the Melbourne County Court during June 1978 to the charge of indecent assault committed the previous year and was jailed for two years, with a minimum of 12 months to serve.

It was the first of numerous court appearances and in 1992, after prolonged legal action, he was imprisoned for a minimum seven years.

In 1997 he faced further charges and he remained in jail before dying during 2014.

Then Father Glennon even tried to tender his resignation on March 14, 1984, and in a letter to Archbishop Sir Frank Little applied to be formally laicised.

Instead the archbishop decided to withdraw some of his rights but allowed Glennon to remain a priest.

However, a Supreme Court writ claims that during the 1990s archbishops Little and George Pell made requests to Pope John Paul II that Father Glennon should be defrocked and that the Pope and/or his representatives failed to act until Glennon was laicised in 1999.

In 1990 Archbishop Little submitted a decree of dismissal to Pope John Paul II to have Fr Glennon laicised due to his pedophile crimes but the decree was not granted.

The writ claims that between the late 1970s when Fr Glennon's abuse was public knowledge and being imprisoned in the early 1990s, the archbishops and popes had a duty of care to protect victims.

The directions hearing last week was to determine whether the complainants can commence the legal proceedings against Pope Francis by way of service on the Papal Nuncio in Australia

The judicial registrar's decision was reserved but it's hoped to be handed down either just before Christmas or early next year.

The writ was filed by solicitor Angela Sdrinis, who has declined to comment.

Mr O'Brien also declined to comment.

IN OTHER NEWS

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.