Catholic Bishop to stand trial in WA

The head of the Catholic Church's military diocese will stand trial in the West Australian District Court over child sex offences dating back more than 40 years.

Bishop Max Leroy Davis, 68, is alleged to have indecently dealt with a boy under the age of 14 and committed indecent practices between males in public in 1969 when he was teaching at St Benedict's College in New Norcia, northeast of Perth.

Davis, who was not an ordained priest at the time of the alleged offences, is understood to be the first Australian bishop and the most senior Australian church official to be charged with child sex offences.

He will face a trail in August.