Cardinal George Pell to Appear before Child Sex Abuse Inquiry
Herald Sun
[with video] THE world will be watching when Australia's most senior Catholic faces Victoria's child sex abuse inquiry tomorrow, a victim's advocate says. Co-founder of the Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN) Leonie Sheedy says she wants to see Cardinal George Pell face up to crimes committed against children by members of the Catholic church. CLAN will protest outside parliament before Cardinal Pell appears as the final witness at the inquiry, she says. The protest will include a poster depicting him with pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale labelled "mates''. It's pressure like this that victims' father Anthony Foster hopes will open cracks in Cardinal Pell's armour. "George Pell is going to be in a very different environment... and I think that is what (Melbourne Archbishop Denis) Hart came up against last week,'' Mr Foster said. "What we have had in the past was the church controlling the information. Here we have a situation where they are going to be questioned by the parliament of Victoria. "He is not able to refuse to answer them.'' Mr Foster's two daughters were raped by Melbourne priest Kevin O'Donnell while they were in primary school. He said his personal experience with Cardinal Pell, current Sydney archbishop and former archbishop of Melbourne, had been typical of the reception his family has experienced from the church as a whole. "We experienced a total lack of empathy from him,'' Mr Foster said. Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart appeared before the inquiry last Monday and admitted that abuses had been covered up by the church. He laid the blame at the feet of deceased former Melbourne archbishop Sir Thomas Francis "Frank'' Little. Mr Foster fears Cardinal Pell will do the same. "What I'm expecting to hear are the same sort of excuses and platitudes that we have heard from previous members of hierarchy of the Catholic Church,'' Mr Foster said. "We heard Hart try and put all the blame on Archbishop Little. "We expect to hear the same sort of line from George Pell or at least an attempt to put that to the inquiry.'' Judy Courtin, a PhD student studying sexual assault in the Catholic Church, agrees. "He will be basically trying to avoid any personal prosecutions ... both civil and perhaps criminal,'' Ms Courtin said. "Priority number two will be continuing to try and protect the church broadly. "He will do that by saying Frank Little was responsible for everything.''
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