Top Vatican Cardinal says Church made enormous mistakes over sex abuse

In the front row of the conference room were two dozen Australian abuse survivors and their companions who had travelled across the globe to be on hand for Cardinal Pell’s evidence, a significant show of accountability in the church’s long-running abuse saga.

Ridsdale remarked upon Pell’s criticism of Mulkearns and the cardinal’s description of the handling of that case of Australia’s worst pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale as a “catastrophe” for both victims and the church.

The still-faithful Catholic from Sutherland said she wanted the top echelon of the church to take full responsibility for the abuse of victims.

The cardinal says too many legitimate allegations about sexual abuse from credible sources were often dismissed “in scandalous circumstances”.

“It was common knowledge [he was kissing boys] there was a general conviction it was harmless enough”, Cardinal Pell told the commission.

“I nodded, got no recognition, nothing”, Ridsdale said.

Despite admitting he was the link between parents and the church during his time in Ballarat, the Cardinal said he could not recall having sexual abuse being ever reported to him.

Ironically, the Rome hearing started just hours before the Oscar ceremony in Hollywood, where “Spotlight”, a film about the systematic cover-up of sexual abuse in the Church in Boston, was nominated for six Academy Awards.

Cardinal Pell arrives to give testimony in Rome.

An Italian doctor deemed him too unwell to travel to the royal commission in Sydney.

Cardinal Pell, Australia’s most senior Catholic, will be asked whether he knew if paedophiles were active in churches under his watch.

But most conspicuously, Cardinal Pell has been suffering significant memory lapses. “We are here for the truth”.

Regarding the way this case was handled by Mulkearns, Pell said it was “a catastrophe for the victims and a catastrophe for the Church”.

Cardinal Pell is not himself accused of sexual abuse.

In a statement Sunday, Pell repeated his support for the Royal Commission’s work, vowed to meet individually with victims who had traveled to Rome, and said he hoped the coming days “will eventually lead to healing for everyone”.

David Ridsdale, who was abused by his uncle, Gerald Ridsdale, said he was grateful that the horrors of Ballarat were finally getting global attention.

“I have just re-read the file of Ridsdale”.

Widely reportedly as the third most powerful man in the Vatican – a title he disputed in his evidence – Pell has already appeared twice before the commission. The group first hung coloured ribbons on a fence outside a Catholic school in the rural town of Ballarat, where abuse was rife, with the bright colours created to give a voice to child victims who were silenced.

Foster, who successfully petitioned the Royal Commission to allow survivors to be present for Pell’s testimony, said it was “astounding and empowering for victims” that the commission was now sitting in judgment of Pell on a global stage.

Last year, Pell denied accusations made at Commission hearings that he had tried to bribe a victim to remain quiet, that he ignored another complaint and that he was complicit in the transfer of a paedophile priest. Associated Press writer Kristen Gelineau contributed from Sydney.