THE Catholic archbishop Denis Hart told a woman abused by a priest to "go to hell, bitch" in conduct which a magistrate labelled appalling.

Archbishop Hart later apologised to the woman in the Melbourne Magistrates Court for what the magistrate, Anne Goldsbrough, described as "appalling words of abuse".

But last night Archbishop Hart repeatedly claimed he ''did not recall'' his comments or being rebuked by the magistrate in mid-2004.

''It was a number of years ago. I don't recall precisely,'' he told the Herald. When it was put to him that he would surely recall the comment because it had become an issue in court, he again said: ''I don't recall''.

Court documents confirm the archbishop's outburst after he was granted an intervention order against the woman, who had pursued him over her abuse by a priest, Barry Whelan, in 2001.