Max Leroy Davis

Maxwell Leroy Davis AM (born 16 August 1945) is the Roman Catholic bishop of the Catholic Diocese of the ADF[1] (Military Ordinariate of the Australian Defence Force).

The Most Reverend Max Davis AM DD
See	Military Ordinariate of Australia
Predecessor	Geoffrey Mayne
Orders
Ordination	1971
Personal details
Birth name	Maxwell Leroy Davis
Born	(1945-08-16) August 16, 1945 Townsville, Queensland
Nationality	Australian
Denomination	Roman Catholic

Davis grew up in Perth. In his late teens, he served in the Royal Australian Navy in 1962–1964. He returned to Western Australia. Davis worked as a teacher at Saint Benedict's College in New Norcia in the late 1960s.[2] He was ordained in 1971. He worked as a chaplain in the Army reserves and as a priest in the Archdiocese of Perth.[3]

Davis was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1998 for service to the navy, particularly as Director General of Chaplaincy-Navy.[4]

In June 2014, Western Australian police charged Davis with having indecently assaulted a 13-year-old boy in 1969, before he had been ordained. Davis denied the charges and stood aside from his roles of office while the charges were heard.[5] On 7 August 2015, he pleaded not guilty, and a six-day trial was set down to start on 6 February 2016 in the District Court of Western Australia.[2] The six counts related to the period between December 1968 and October 1972 when Davis was dorm master at St Benedict's College at New Norcia. The Defence case accepted that the boys were abused, but denied that Davis was the culprit, identifying other (now dead) possible offenders.[6] He was acquitted of all charges on 15 February 2016. He returned to public ministry in December 2017. [7][1]

References

1. "I'll be home for Christmas" (PDF). Serving faithfully. Catholic Diocese of the Australian Defence Force. December 2017. p. 2. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
2. Joanna Menagh (7 August 2015). "Army bishop to face trial on child sex charges in WA". ABC News. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
3. "From sailor to bishop". The Catholic Weekly. Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
4. "DAVIS, Max Leroy". It's an Honour. Government of Australia. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
5. "Catholic Church's military diocese head bishop Max Davis charged with child sex". News Limited. 30 June 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
6. "Bishop's New Norcia child sex allegations a 'mistake', court hears". WA Today. Fairfax Media. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
7. "WA bishop Max Leroy Davis acquitted of child sex abuse". WAtoday.com.au. Fairfax Media. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.

Preceded by Geoffrey Mayne	Military Ordinary of Australia	Succeeded by incumbent