Senator Nick Xenophon says he's been swamped with calls, some from victims of abuse, after naming a priest accused of rape.
Speaking under parliamentary privilege on Tuesday night, the independent senator for South Australia named the priest as Monsignor Ian Dempsey, a parish priest in the Adelaide suburb of Brighton.
Senator Xenophon said there were allegations that Monsignor Dempsey raped the Archbishop of the Traditional Anglican Communion, John Hepworth, more than 40 years ago.
He said Archbishop Hepworth has decided not to take the matter to police and instead deal with it internally in the church.
On Wednesday Senator Xenophon said his office had been swamped with calls since he named the priest.
"We've been inundated with calls this morning and emails," he told Macquarie radio.
The Catholic Church needed to ensure transparency, he said.
"It's very interesting that Cardinal Pell, the Archbishop of Sydney, has actually said today that that the Catholic Churches of Australia need to have a transparent process the public have confidence in and it's been my concern," Senator Xenophon said.
"In other cases where there are serious accusations and of course there is a presumption of innocence - priests are stood down administratively so there can be an appropriate investigation.
"That hasn't happened in this case (for) various reasons given by the churches of Australia, which I think are unsatisfactory."
Asked what he thought of Bishop Christopher Saunders labelling his naming of the priest a stunt, he said that was "objectionable" and that this was a serious matter.
He called for the people who had contacted him about their experiences of sexual abuse to go to the police.
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