Catholic Church Covered up Child Sex Abuse, Cardinal George Pell Tells Victoria's Inquiry
By Pia Akerman
CARDINAL George Pell has acknowledged the Catholic Church within Australia covered up the "foul crime" of child abuse, leading to suicides. Australia's most senior Catholic cleric has taken the stage today as the final witness for the Victorian inquiry into how religious and non-government organisations have responded to sexual abuse claims. Cardinal Pell said while he had personally never covered up offending, it had largely escaped the view of church officials who didn't know what a "mess" they were presiding over. He vehemently rejected claims that there had been a "culture of abuse" among priests. "I think the bigger fault was nobody would talk about it, nobody would mention it," he said, admitting his predecessor as Melbourne archbishop had "mishandled" one abuse case by destroying documents. "He clearly did the wrong thing." Cardinal Pell agreed under questioning that the fear of scandal led to a cover-up. ''The primary motivation would have been to respect the reputation of the church. ''There was a fear of scandal.'' Cardinal Pell said suicides among abuse victims had occurred as a result of "inactivity" by the church. ''I would agree that we've been slow to address the anguish of the victims and dealt with it very imperfectly,'' he told the inquiry. ''I think a big factor in this was not simply to defend the name of the church. ''Many in the church did not understand just what damage was being done to the victims. We understand that better now.'' Cardinal Pell said the sodomy of children was always regarded as totally reprehensible. ''If we'd been gossips, which we weren't ... we would have realised earlier just how widespread this business was,'' Cardinal Pell said. He admitted lives had been ruined as a result of the cover-ups. He agreed the systemic cover-up had allowed pedophiles priests to prey on children. ''I would have to say there is significant truth in that,'' Cardinal Pell said. Cardinal Pell denied church assets were hidden in trusts. ''Our assets are not hidden in trusts,'' he said. ''Church officials can be sued. Church officials have been sued. ''We have always met our obligations for compensation.'' He agreed the church's assets in Australia would ''certainly be very considerable''. ''We are always ready to pay whatever the law of the land says about compensation,'' he said. Cardinal Pell said Australian compensation - a maximum of $75,000 - was low compared to the US but compared quite favourably with the vast majority of the world. ''We will pay whatever the law recommends is appropriate compensation. ''Many of the victims aren't particularly interested in money. The more important thing is due process, justice and help with getting on with their lives. ''The church will continue to fulfil its obligations as they're defined in Australian society and will continue to try to help victims.'' He also launched a strong defence of how he handled allegations brought to him by one family, the Fosters, whose daughters were abused by a priest. "I can't pull somebody out of a parish simply because you are alleging he has done something," Cardinal Pell said. "I have every sympathy for the two daughters. "It's a Greek tragedy." Earlier, Cardinal Pell was grilled on his relationship with former Ballarat priest Gerald Ridsdale, who he accompanied to court when Ridsdale pleaded guilty to a raft of child sex offences. The cardinal has previously described his action as "a priestly act of solidarity", and today said he had a general principle to accompany parishioners to court whenever he was asked. "I regret that it has caused such angst amongst victims," Cardinal Pell said. "It was never intended to provoke that. "I intended no disrespect to the victims. "I didn't know the details of those offences. "I wasn't in any sense a close friend of his...I didn't know him particularly well." Cardinal Pell said Ridsdale's lawyer had asked him to accompany Ridsdale. Though he was not allowed to give an opening statement to the inquiry, Cardinal Pell said he was "fully apologetic and absolutely sorry." "That is the basis for everything I will say," he said. Cardinal Pell was accompanied by a lawyer and his media director, who he introduced as "married people with children". Asked why there had been so many instances of abuse, Cardinal Pell said some had suggested celibacy was to blame. "That might be a factor in some of the cases...(but) marriage is no necessary deterrent to the pedophilia." Cardinal Pell served as a priest in Ballarat from 1966, dealing with a number of colleagues who were later revealed as pedophiles. As Melbourne archbishop in 1996, he was one of the architects of the Melbourne Response which formalised the church's process for dealing with abuse complaints but has been strongly criticised by some victims who claim it has been designed to protect the church and limit compensation. Committee chair Georgie Crozier said the church leadership's handling of abuse claims had been misdirected and aimed at protecting church assets. "The evidence is quite clear," she said. "It was covered up." Cardinal Pell's appearance was preceded by a small protest on the front steps of Parliament House where anti-abuse campaigners waved placards and called on the cardinal to tell the truth about abuse within the church. About 100 people filled the committee room's public gallery, with 120 more packed into an auxiliary room and parliament staff forced to search for extra seats to accommodate other would-be audience members. Cardinal Pell is expected to offer a formal statement when his evidence concludes later this afternoon. Today is the inquiry's last public hearing before the committee is due to report at the end of September.
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