Cardinal admits ‘scandalous’ response to abuse allegations

Australian Cardinal George Pell, a close advisor to Pope Francis and the church’s Secretariat for the Economy- reputedly the second most powerful position in Rome- was giving evidence in an Australian courtroom Monday morning to Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Australian Cardinal George Pell met with the pope on Monday hours after he gave evidence via videolink from Rome to the Royal Commission in Sydney.

Abuse survivors were again present for Cardinal Pell’s evidence, having been flown over thanks to a crowdfunding campaign which started in Ballarat, in Victoria’s west.

The cardinal’s testimony to the Royal Commission in Sydney is set to last for three days.

Anthony Foster, whose eldest daughter was repeatedly raped by priest Kevin O’Donnell and committed suicide, said it was “astounding and empowering for victims” that the commission was now sitting in judgment of Pell on a global stage.

Dominic Ridsdale, a survivor of priestly sex abuse, wears a shirt reading “No more silence” as he stands in front of the Quirinale hotel in Rome, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016.

Now 85, the retired Mulkearns is known to have moved Gerald Ridsdale, one of Australia’s most notorious abusers, between parishes for several years while being fully aware of the former-priest’s abuses. “Fr Pell said “don’t be ridiculous” and walked out”.

Pell was ordained a priest in Ballarat in 1966 and was a consultant to Mulkearns.

Gerald Ridsdale’s nephew David Ridsdale, a victim of abuse, told reporters in Rome that he was pleased with Cardinal Pell’s “more conciliatory tone”, but criticised his “careful selection of words”.

Cardinal Pell said the position of the Vatican on reporting obligations of the clergy was “that the law of the land should be followed”.

“This film gave a voice to survivors, and this Oscar amplifies that voice, which we hope will become a choir that will resonate all the way to the Vatican”, producer Michael Sugar said in his acceptance speech.

He added: “I must say in those days, if a priest denied such activity, I was very strongly inclined to accept the denial”. “So we need humility, we need the truth, and we need action”.

Cardinal Pell’s office said the regularly scheduled meeting was in regard to his work as head of the Vatican Treasury.

“I would have expected him to have an adequate degree of knowledge; whether he knew all these bad things, which make me feel ashamed, I’m not sure”. We talked about it but it was not gossiped about extensively, ‘ he said.

The commission cannot file criminal charges, but commissioners can refer what they believe are criminal matters to police and prosecutors.

But then Ms Furness led the cardinal through detailed evidence of his various roles of responsibility, at one stage surprising him with a new piece of evidence that suggested his role as an educational vicar was an “essential link” between the clergy, parents and students and therefore at the crux of the issue being probed by the royal commission into how church leaders had responded to abuse.

McGuirk reported from Canberra, Australia.