Pell Hopes Worst of Abuse Scandal Is over

By Daniel Fogarty and Genevieve Gannon
West Australian
May 31, 2013

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/national/17407067/pell-hopes-worst-of-abuse-scandal-is-over/

Cardinal George Pell hopes and prays that the worst of the sexual abuse scandal is behind the Catholic Church.

He says the church is making recompense for the decades of abuse and there have been very few recent cases.

Victims and advocates disagree and say recent revelations are just the tip of the iceberg.

For Stephen Woods, who endured sexual abuse at the hands of pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale, Cardinal Pell's evidence to the Victorian parliamentary inquiry on Monday did nothing other than demonstrate that Australia's most senior Catholic and other church hierarchy still don't get it.

Mr Woods, like many fellow victims and advocates, believes that only new leadership and a change of attitude can bring real healing.

He feels the church's response to the crimes of its clergy has been wholly inadequate and that even today, decades after the issue was first raised, it continues to cover up its failings.

Cardinal Pell, a former archbishop of Melbourne and current Sydney archbishop, was grilled for four-and-a-half hours by the child abuse inquiry.

He offered apologies, acknowledged cover-ups and admitted lives had been blighted.

"I pray, and I think it's reasonable to say and I hope, that the worst is behind us," he told the inquiry.

But some in the large public gallery were left stunned by his evidence.

His claim that he was for victims, along with his self-proclaimed doubts that hundreds of people had been raped by clergy, triggered reactions from the audience ranging from howls to sighs to laughter.

For Cardinal Pell, last Monday's grilling is a small taste of what is to come.

He is expected to be a key witness at the national royal commission into sexual abuse in institutions, where he will likely face days of forensic grilling from commissioners who include two former judges, a former police commissioner and a Rhodes Scholar.

Dr Vivian Waller, a compensation lawyer for abuse survivors, says while she commends the Victorian parliamentary inquiry for the work it has done in uncovering scandals, much more is certain to come out at the royal commission.

"I think in terms of the cover-up of the Catholic Church, I suspect it is just the tip of the iceberg," she said.

"I suspect a lot more people will have confidence now that they have seen the parliamentary inquiry go about its investigations.

"There will be people who held back with information because they were afraid of speaking out and if the parliamentary inquiry is seen to be achieving positive and fearless results I think that will encourage other people to come forward."

Victoria's inquiry, which began last October and will deliver its findings in September, heard evidence of abuse being covered up and victims ignored, not just in the Catholic faith but also within other religions.

Some of the strongest criticism of the Catholic Church came from Victoria Police, who said the church had destroyed evidence and was more concerned with its reputation than the welfare of victims.

Among victims there was a common theme that the church covered up horrific abuse, did not want to hear their complaints and that church leaders all the way up to Cardinal Pell just don't get it.

In their evidence, Cardinal Pell and current Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart strongly defended the Catholic Church's programs for compensating abuse victims - the Melbourne Response and Towards Healing - saying they are independent and have benefited victims.

But many victims want to see the programs replaced with an independent system that has government oversight.

"We want to see the government basically upholding what we know experientially and basically taking over that Melbourne Response system and setting up a government process that is independent," advocacy group Good Faith director Helen Last told AAP.

Dr Waller, who has represented dozens of clergy sexual abuse victims and recently negotiated a $1.1 million settlement for 11 victims, said the church's sexual abuse processes have failed to identify, investigate and report systemic child abuse.

"I think that Towards Healing and the Archdiocese of Melbourne process allowed for the fragmentation of individual complaints and have not reported systemic abuse to the police and I think that has been an utter tragedy," she told AAP.

The lack of compensation available under the processes is also a serious concern for victims.

The inquiry heard of the sharp contrast between the multi-billion dollar assets of the church and the small amount paid to abuse victims.

Parliamentary committee member Andrea Coote cited a Fairfax report that put the church's revenue for 2005 at $16.2 billion.

She also put to Cardinal Pell that while he is able to live in a $30 million residence in Rome, which is owned by Australian dioceses, victims in the Melbourne archdiocese can only receive a maximum of $75,000 in compensation.

The cost of the Rome property could have been enough to provide $75,000 to 400 abuse victims, Ms Coote said.

But Cardinal Pell, who was quick to point out that the Rome property is a hostel for Australian pilgrims and certainly not a palace as Ms Coote suggested, says the church has enough money to pay victims.

"We don't need to sell investments at the moment to pay our damages," Cardinal Pell retorted.

Many victims believe it is the attitude of Cardinal Pell and his colleagues that must change.

"The little care for the victims that he showed, showed that they still don't get it," Mr Woods told reporters shortly after Cardinal Pell finished his evidence.

"He needs to resign. His era is finished."

Dr Cathy Kezelman from Adults Surviving Child Abuse said a change of attitude and the introduction of systems, such as mandatory reporting of abuse by clergy, must take place to ensure an abuse scandal never happens again.

"What we need to see from the church is a complete change in culture from top to bottom, whereby we see accountability of the hierarchy rather than buck passing," she told AAP.

"Where we see not only people who have committed crimes reported to authorities, but those who are complicit in covering them up are made accountable as well. Time for accountability, responsibility and genuine justice."

Cardinal Pell himself has called for mandatory reporting of child sex abuse in Victoria, saying NSW laws provide greater protection for children by imposing greater reporting obligations on non-government agencies.

He insists the church will cooperate with the royal commission and has promised all documents the Vatican has on child sex abuse will be made available to the royal commission.

Things are getting better, he says, and the incidence of offending has significantly declined in the Melbourne archdiocese.

"We have implemented a massive cultural change," he told the inquiry.

"The crime is totally regrettable. The damage is enormous."