Bishop critical of Pell on abuse response

Sky News
August 24, 2015

http://www.skynews.com.au/news/national/2015/08/24/bishop-to-recall-row-with-papal-nuncio.html

Cardinal George Pell destroyed the unity of the Catholic church in Australia when he dropped a 'bombshell' by launching his own response to abuse victims, a bishop has told the child sex abuse royal commission.

Retired Bishop Geoffrey Robinson said the establishment of the Melbourne Response by then Archbishop Pell in 1996, months before the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference launched the nation-wide Towards Healing, was totally unexpected.

Bishop Robinson was the architect of Towards Healing, which is used by all dioceses except Melbourne. He had steered long negotiations to develop the protocol, which was launched in 1997.

On Monday, he was critical of Dr Pell's actions, which he said were taken without any reference to the bishops' conference.

'He (Dr Pell) later would claim he was the first person in Australia to have such a protocol, he was ahead of everybody in the world,' Bishop Robinson said.

That is only a very partial truth, said Bishop Robinson. Melbourne was the biggest diocese and the move meant there was no longer unanimity in the Australian Catholic Church approach.

The bishop said Dr Pell told him he'd preempted it because the then Premier of Victoria Jeff Kennett had said: 'You fix it or I'll fix it for you'.

Bishop Robinson said the conference was trying to bring 32 dioceses and 150 religious orders together but the Melbourne Response only covered diocesan priests, not those attached to religious orders, so it could be set up quickly.

Dr Pell's response had some things to commend it but 'I had big problems with it as well', he said.

He did not think the Melbourne Response was easy for victims whose first contact would be with a senior lawyer in an office.

Earlier, Bishop Robinson said Cardinal Pell was ineffective as Archbishop of Sydney because he lost the support of his priests.

Under Cardinal Pell 'priests simply forgot the diocese, put their heads down and looked after their parishes', he said.

In the case of Cardinal Pell 'the majority of priests wished he would get transferred somewhere else'.

However, he said too much loyalty to a bishop could lead 'to cover-ups and moving-rounds'.

'I believe it would be true of Bishop (Ronald) Mulkearns', he said.

Bishop Mulkearns is seriously ill and once headed the diocese of Ballarat.