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Cardinal George Pell disputes evidence ...
NEWS.com.au
[with video] CARDINAL George Pell said he was not the kind of person who blamed others — but he was right and his closest advisers were wrong. The former Sydney Archbishop said three senior members of the church and his private secretary were incorrect on eight occasions when they gave evidence to the child sex abuse royal commission on his involvement and knowledge of the controversial case of former altar boy John Ellis. His personal secretary Dr Michael Casey, who worked with the Cardinal in Melbourne before moving with him to Sydney in 2001 when Cardinal Pell was appointed archbishop, was in that job until last week. FROM YESTERDAY: CARDINAL PELL TAKES THE STAND Counsel assisting the royal commission Gail Furness SC asked Cardinal Pell: “He would know your arrangements very well, would he not cardinal?” The Cardinal replied: “Not. He is completely honest and completely reliable but he’s not the archbishop and he knows what he knows and there are some things he didn’t know.” At times angry, Cardinal Pell accused one of his former right-hand men, Monsignor Brian Rayner, of giving “grotesque” evidence about him. It was his first appearance at the royal commission and came on the day before his official farewell from the Sydney diocese before he takes up the role as head of the Vatican’s finances and the world’s third most senior Catholic. There were protestors outside the commission while, in the public gallery, emotions ran high. There was applause when the Cardinal was told to produce data to back up his statement that a number of claims of child sex abuse in Catholic schools could not be validated. One man was asked to leave when he shouted out, to applause: “You should be ashamed of yourself Cardinal.” Cardinal Pell, 72, apologised to Mr Ellis, 52 and admitted making several mistakes in the handling of his case. Mr Ellis was repeatedly sexually abused by the late Father Aidan Duggan at Christ the King Catholic Church at Bass Hill. He sued the Sydney Archdiocese in 2004 after being offered just $30,000 to settle his case under the church’s Toward Healing protocol. He lost in a landmark ruling that found the church was not a legal entity and could not sued. Cardinal Pell said the mistakes included rejecting Mr Ellis’s offer to mediate and disputing his claim he was abused even after an internal church report concluded he was telling the truth and another victim of Father Duggan came forward. But, on his own evidence, Cardinal Pell was not as close to the bungled case as other witnesses have said. He said, with hindsight, it would have been an excellent outcome if it had been settled for the $100,000 Mr Ellis initially asked for instead of litigation that cost $1.5 million. But he claimed not to know of the $100,000 offer. When Counsel Assisting the Commission, Gail Furness SC, asked the Cardinal who should have told him, Cardinal Pell said there were a “whole host” of people including his then-chancellor Monsignor Rayner, Dr Casey and officers from the church’s professional standards office. “I’m not the sort of fellow blaming people for misunderstandings,” Cardinal Pell said. Ms Furness said: “A number of those people have given evidence of your knowledge of (that sum) and you have said that each of them is wrong?” Cardinal Pell said Monsignor Brian Rayner was wrong in his evidence he discussed the offers of $25,000 and $30,000 made to Mr Ellis to settle his claim. Cardinal Pell said John Davoren, the inaugural professional standards director, had been wrong to say the archbishop decided every case of compensation, and Mr Casey was wrong when he said Monsignor Rayner and current chancellor Monsignor John Usher had to get the archbishop’s approval for any compensation. THE EVIDENCE AT ODDS WITH PELL 1: John Davoren, inaugural director of the Church’s Professional Standards Office of NSW, said a decision on compensation was made by the archbishop. Counsel Assisting the Royal Commission Gail Furness SC asked: “Is he wrong in the evidence he gave? Cardinal Pell: “I think he is.” 2: Cardinal Pell’s private secretary Michael Casey gave evidence it was the job of the chancellor to discuss money matters and seek instructions from the archbishop regarding Towards Healing claims. Furness: “Is Dr Casey wrong in the evidence he gave?’ Pell: “He’s partly complete ... that didn’t happen. Where he’s correct is the chancellor handles these things.” 3: Dr Casey gave evidence Pell would have sought information about reparation and information would have been provided to him by the chancellor and the director of professional standards. Furness: “Is his opinion wrong?” Pell: “Yes, I don’t think it occurred like that.” 4: Dr Casey gave evidence the former chancellor of the Sydney Archdiocese Monsignor Brian Rayner and the current chancellor Monsignor John Usher had to get the archbishop’s authorisation for any money (such as settlements under Towards Healing) Furness: “Is his assumption wrong?” Pell: “It is.” 5: Monsignor Rayner has given evidence Pell authorised him to make offers of $25,000 and $30,000 to John Ellis. Furness: “Is that right?” Pell: “It is not correct.” 6: Monsignor Rayner has given evidence he and Pell discussed settlement sums and Pell made the final decision. Furness; “Is he wrong in that regard?” Pell: “Yes he is”. 7: Monsignor Rayner has given evidence he told Pell Mr Ellis had been willing to settle for $100,000. Pell: “I was never informed of his request for $100,000.” 8: Professional standards office director Michael Salmon gave evidence Pell would have known about the $100,000 offer. Furness: “Is he wrong?” Pell: “He was.” ‘ALL PRIESTS SHOULD CARRY THEIR OWN CHILD SEX ABUSE INSURANCE’ Janet Fife-Yeomans INDIVIDUAL Catholic priests should carry insurance to cover them for sexually abusing children and the Catholic Church should be run like a corporation that can be sued by victims. Cardinal George Pell outlined his vision at the royal commission into child sex abuse yesterday. He said that the Church should be able to be sued although the courts had “correctly” ruled that it was not a legal entity when former altar boy John Ellis lost his abuse claim against the Sydney Archdiocese in 2004. The chair of the royal commission, Justice Peter McClellan, asked the cardinal just who he proposed people could bring a claim against in the wake of the court ruling. Cardinal Pell said he believed that the Church should form a corporation which would appoint and supervise the priests and other personnel and would support a recommendation from the commission that priests carry insurance. The Church has always argued it cannot be sued for acts of the priests because it did not employ them. Cardinal Pell said he was “proposing that we never want to repeat the amount of time and tears” that went into the legal fight with Mr Ellis, who failed when he sued the trustees of the Sydney Archdiocese. The bungling of Mr Ellis’s claim under the Towards Healing process and also the litigation is being examined by the commission. Cardinal Pell has also backed an independent body set up by the government to investigate sexual abuse claims and recommend compensation. “Lessons have been learned,” he said of the “mess” into which Mr Ellis’s claim degenerated.
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