Head of Victorian Sex Abuse Inquiry Wants Catholic Church to Increase Victim Payments

By Barney Zwartz
The Age
November 16, 2013

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/head-of-victorian-sex-abuse-inquiry-wants-catholic-church-to-increase-victim-payments-20131115-2xmjs.html

The sex abuse inquiry chairwoman expects the Catholic Church in Victoria to consider increasing payments it has already made to victims as a litmus test of its good faith.

Breaking her self-imposed silence after the Victorian parliamentary committee tabled its report on Wednesday, Georgie Crozier said the suggestion had come from the church itself during testimony to the inquiry.

"The report quotes Francis Sullivan, chief of the Catholic Truth, Justice and Healing Council, who says often, 'judge us by our actions now'," Ms Crozier said.

Sydney's Archbishop Cardinal George Pell "made reference to the miserable payments, and they said they are willing to go back and do that','' she said. The 750-page report, which made 15 recommendations - including several aimed at making the Catholic Church legally accountable - strongly criticised the church.

In a sharp exchange with committee member Andrea Coote when he gave evidence in May, Cardinal Pell said if there were a good case he would revisit the amount of money paid in compensation, but he could speak only for Sydney.

When it came to compensation: "Whatever we are compelled to do, we will do.''

Mrs Coote asked where was the morality in paying up to $75,000 - "a pittance by international standards" - to victims who were anally and orally raped and Cardinal Pell stayed in a $30 million Rome residence and the church in Australia had billions of dollars of assets?

Cardinal Pell replied: "The church has never claimed that it would be unable to pay appropriate compensation.

''Our compensation is low in comparison with the United States. I suspect that with the vast majority of the world we would compare quite favourably, but it goes without saying: we will pay whatever the law recommends as appropriate compensation."

In a press conference on Wednesday after the report was released, Melbourne's Archbishop Denis Hart welcomed it and supported the recommendations.

Although the church had earlier complained about aspects of the inquiry, on Wednesday Archbishop Hart said it had been conducted with integrity.

But on Friday the church evaded Ms Crozier's suggestion, strongly implying a negative answer. Asked whether the church would revisit compensation, and how or when it might do so, it declined to answer, but provided an answer to a question that was not asked.

On Friday Catholic Church spokesman Shane Mackinlay said it would be happy to revisit previous compensation payments as part of the new independent compensation scheme.