Francis Durning

Francis (Frank) Durning SM was a New Zealand priest of the Roman Catholic Church.^[1]

Durning was born in Glasgow on 12 May 1914, and his family emigrated to New Zealand. He was ordained as a priest with the Society of Mary (Marist) on 11 December 1938.^[1]

Durning taught in Catholic institutions from the 1940s through to the late 1980s, among others at:

St Bede's College, Christchurch
Chanel College, Moamoa, in Samoa
St Patrick's College, Silverstream, where he was Rector of the school from 1950-1955
St Patrick's College, Kilbirnie, Wellington
Holy Cross College, Mosgiel

Durning died on 13 April 1999.

In 2018 the Society of Mary said that Francis Durning sexually abused children.^[2]^[3]

^ ^a ^b Phil Pennington,"Shock at delay in removing paedophile priest's photo", RNZ News, 4 April 2019 (Retrieved 8 May 2020)
^ Phil Pennington, "Priest's sexual abuse at Upper Hutt school admitted: It's 'criminal' ", RNZ News, 24 September 2018 (Retrieved 8 May 2020)
^ "Wellington Catholic school has no records of sex abuse". RNZ. 11 November 2018. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2020.

[shock-1] Phil Pennington,"Shock at delay in removing paedophile priest's photo", RNZ News, 4 April 2019 (Retrieved 8 May 2020)

[2] Phil Pennington, "Priest's sexual abuse at Upper Hutt school admitted: It's 'criminal' ", RNZ News, 24 September 2018 (Retrieved 8 May 2020)

[no_records-3] "Wellington Catholic school has no records of sex abuse". RNZ. 11 November 2018. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2020.

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