A programme to bring overseas priests into an Australian diocese has been heavily criticised in a report commissioned by the diocese. The report said shortcomings in the Overseas Priests Programme of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, north of Sydney, had led to a lack of support for both overseas and local clergy and described "at best, a lack of enthusiasm within the presbyterate for the presence of overseas priests".
Many local clergy were "demoralised [and] sometimes resentful".
It also said clergy and a number of parishioners had expressed serious concerns about the diocese's dependence on overseas priests, who were seen as a "band-aid solution" to the serious problems facing the Church.