Australia’s Catholic Church has apologised for comments a priest made when he said Jill Meagher would not have been murdered had she not been out so late.

The priest is reported to have made the remarks during an end-of-term homily at a primary school. He reportedly told parishioners at a primary school in Melbourne that if Ms Meagher had been “more faith filled” she “would have been home in bed” rather than “walking down Sydney Road at 3am.” The priest made the remarks while holding up a newspaper with a picture of Ms Meagher on it.

The comments were reported to Australian radio station 3AW. The Church’s apology was also aired on 3AW, when Vicar General of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, Monsignor Greg Bennet told the station:

“The church or the diocese certainly does not condone the comments made and the homily was totally inappropriate,” he said.

“The reference to Jill Meagher in particular was offensive and inappropriate and the people of Victoria and Ireland mourn her sad and tragic death.

“We do not share the sentiment of the homily this morning and we certainly apologise for the hurt that this homily may have caused today,” he said.

Ms Meagher was raped and murdered by Adrian Bayley in September of 2012. He was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 35 years. He was on parole at the time of the murder, having previously served eight years in prison for several rapes in 2000.

Earlier this week, Mr Bayley was convicted of the rape of three other women – meaning he has now been found guilty of raping ten women and attempting to rape two more.