The West Australian
July 8, 2008
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=2&ContentID=83627
Cardinal George Pell has denied trying to cover up sex abuse by a priest, saying he made an "innocent error" and will not stand down as head of the Catholic Church in Australia.
The Archbishop of Sydney was today forced to defend his conduct just days before the Pope arrives in Sydney for World Youth Day events.
Pope Benedict XVI is expected to use the visit to apologise to Australian victims of sex abuse perpetrated by the clergy.
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However Anthony Jones, a former Catholic educator who was indecently assaulted by Father Terrence Goodall in 1982, said any apology from the Pope would now be meaningless.
Mr Jones has accused Dr Pell of being "deceitful" in his handling of the allegations that led to Goodall being convicted of indecent assault in 2005.
"What's the point of an apology when the senior ranking titled cleric in the Catholic Church of Australia is still covering up sex abuse," Mr Jones told AAP.
"I believe Cardinal Pell should resign. And I think people should call for his resignation."
Dr Pell today said he was mistaken when he wrote to Mr Jones in 2003, saying no-one else had contacted the church with sexual abuse complaints about Goodall.
ABC TV last night revealed Dr Pell had written to another man the same day, saying a church investigation confirmed he had been sexually assaulted by Goodall.
A church investigation into Mr Jones' claims found they were substantiated.
However Dr Pell today acknowledged he had wrongly attributed his personal dismissal of rape allegations as being the finding of the church investigation.
"That was an overstatement. That was an innocent error," he told reporters.
He also admitted his letter to Mr Jones "was badly worded and a mistake", and that he had meant to convey there was "no other allegation of rape" involving Goodall, not that there were no other abuse allegations.
But he denied being involved in a cover-up.
"There was no cover-up," Dr Pell said.
"The accusations against Father Goodall were investigated by the church and the police and Father Goodall was stood down. "Church authorities fully cooperated at every stage."
Mr Jones, now 54, said he had never claimed to the church or police that he was raped by Goodall.
"I was worried he was going to, but he certainly sexually assaulted me," he said.
"Cardinal Pell is being deceitful. He's not being truthful." Dr Pell confirmed his lawyers contacted Mr Jones yesterday to try to persuade him not to go public.
When asked why, he said: "I don't make the laws in this country."
As recently as last month, Mr Jones agreed to terminate a NSW Supreme Court civil case against the church, saying the laws only allowed him to sue Goodall or Dr Pell, which would have been fruitless.
"I agreed to walk away from it. They wouldn't sue me for their fees and I wouldn't continue to sue them," Mr Jones said. "I just realised I was wasting my time."
Support group Broken Rites, which looks after the victims of sex abuse by members of the clergy, said the archbishop's actions had forced Mr Jones to go public.
"If Cardinal Pell's assessment is that 'you've got to be raped first before I do anything about it', that's a pretty sad, sorry state," Broken Rites president Chris MacIsaac told AAP.
"This matter should have been dealt with adequately in the first place."
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd declined to buy into the issue today, telling journalists: "I understand that the Catholic Church has issued a statement on this last night, dealing with these matters."
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