Cardinal Faces Savaging As Lions Bite Hard

By Lawrence Money
The Age
May 28, 2013

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/cardinal-faces-savaging-as-lions-bite-hard-20130527-2n7l0.html

''Building on the past'' says the sign outside Victoria's Parliament House. It refers to renovations to the old grey edifice but, on this overcast Monday afternoon, it could almost have applied to the proceedings inside as Cardinal George Pell attempted to explain the inexplicable sins of yore - systematic paedophilia by Catholic priests.

Pell, who last month was basking in the glory of an appointment to a Vatican panel on leaked documents, was this time a Daniel walking into the lions' den - the state parliamentary inquiry into child abuse - and the inquisitorial team had a full set of teeth. ''Were you a Pontius Pilate, washing your hands of the problem?'' asked MP Frank McGuire. Pell denied it and, while one curious member of the media Googled ''Pilate'' on his laptop, the cardinal pointed out that he had attended at least ''three meetings of victims''.

The savaging continued. Had Pell ''supported'' the notorious priest Gerald Ridsdale in a court case where they walked out of the courtroom together? Pell admitted he had been there but would not have called it ''support'' and besides, he not realised the implications at the time.

And no, he confirmed that he had never gone to court to support any victims - but none had ever asked him. Suddenly, there were echoes of Rupert Murdoch at the hacking inquiry when the cardinal volunteered a declaration of profuse regret: ''I am fully apologetic and absolutely sorry.''

That may have been some consolation to Alan Batten, who had been standing on the steps outside before the hearing began. ''I want to see what George has to say,'' said Batten who spent his childhood in Catholic orphanages in South Melbourne and Geelong. ''I reckon 30 per cent of the kids there were attacked,'' he said.

''They like to make out it was some isolated priest but it was a daily occurrence. I was raped. We all lived in fear. It was a common saying among the kids: 'Watch your bum, chum'. Everyone knew about it.''

Batten, now retired, was a brewery worker. He said he married and had kids but memories of the abuse ''never go away from you''.

However, George Pell's ''sorry'' was destined to go unheard by Kevin MacKenzie, 63, who remained on the steps outside holding two protest placards. One read: ''Pell supported a paedophile as a 'priestly act of solidarity'''. Said MacKenzie: ''I'm not going in, I don't want to hear all those excuses.''

He says most of his abuse occurred in a Christian Brothers orphanage in Cheltenham. ''I've been drinking ever since. My marriage was ruined. I couldn't stand my wife touching me. The last time I saw my daughter she was four months old; now she's 30.''

MacKenzie spent months living on the street, a stark contrast to the picture being painted at the hearing inside. MP Andrea Coote asked about Pell's luxurious accommodation in Rome, citing a newspaper report that described a palace worth $30 million. Pell said this was a ''comprehensive mis-statement'' - he had just two ''nice rooms'' but it was not a palace, it was a facility for pilgrims that paid its own way.

Undaunted, Coote suggested the sum of $30 million would compensate more than 400 abuse victims, based on the current $75,000 maximum, and noted the availability of some very acceptable Roman pensiones as alternative digs.

The internet proves her right. May one suggest, for example, the Pensione Barrett in Via Di Torre Argentina. Right now, it has 232 ''likes'' on Tripadvisor.com. Pell could make it 233.