Christine Foster ‘betrayed’ by George Pell abuse apology and church warning

By Pia Akerman
Australian
August 18, 2014

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/christine-foster-betrayed-by-george-pell-abuse-apology-and-church-warning/story-e6frg6nf-1227027923917

THE mother of two girls who were abused by one of Victoria’s most notorious paedophile priests has told how she felt “betrayed” by receiving an apology from then Archbishop George Pell as well as a warning against litigation in the same month.

The royal commission investigating institutional responses to child sexual abuse has begun a two-week hearing probing the Melbourne Response, through which the Catholic Melbourne archdiocese offered financial compensation and counselling to abuse victims.

Counsel assisting the commission Gail Furness SC told the crowded courtroom there had been no formal or external review of the Melbourne Response since it began in 1996.

The church has paid $11.3 million in compensation since the Melbourne Response began, with $1.6m of that figure for claims outside the Melbourne Response process.

Nearly 20 per cent of all compensation paid by the Melbourne Response relates to a single priest, Kevin O’Donnell, who was found responsible for 50 abuse complaints including from Emma and Katie Foster, who were students at his parish school in Oakleigh.

Emma committed suicide while trying to deal with her abuse and Katie requires constant care for her disabilities after being hit by a car in 1999.

Their mother, Christine Foster, who has been an outspoken critic of the church’s response with her husband Anthony, today outlined how the family had initially engaged with the Melbourne Response before filing a civil action in the Victorian Supreme Court.

The Fosters eventually settled for $750,000 plus costs.

The commission was shown a copy of a letter sent by then Archbishop George Pell in August 1998 apologising for “the wrongs and hurt you have suffered at the hands of Kevin O’Donnell.”

This was shortly followed by a letter from the church’s lawyers warning that the Fosters should accept a compensation offer (capped at $75,000) as a “realistic alternative to litigation that will otherwise be strenuously defended.”

Ms Foster told the commission she felt “betrayed” by this.

“I felt there was an apology and then there was a threat,” she said.

“It was just more of the same from the church.”

Cardinal Pell will give evidence by videolink from Rome on Thursday.

The hearing, sitting in Melbourne for the next two weeks, will probe the Fosters’ experience and those of two other victims including Paul Hersbach, who was abused as a boy by Father Victor Rubeo, who had also abused his father and uncle.

Mr Hersbach told the commission today he had met with the Melbourne Response’s independent commissioner Peter O’Callaghan QC a week after disclosing his abuse for the first time.

He said Mr O’Callaghan told him he could go to the police if he wanted, but it was unlikely they would take any action.

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