"I Am Absolutely Disgusted': Mother Whose Six Children Were Abused by a Priest Slams Cardinal George Pell after We Found Him Drinking Beer and Tucking into Steak and Chips - Despite Being "Too Ill" to Face the Royal Commission
By Frank Coletta
Mrs Lane and husband Brian had long been devout Catholics, but their trust and family was ripped apart as the pedophilia came to light. Cardinal Pell, 74, submitted a two-page medical report in February which stated a flight to Australia to give evidence would severely impact his health and possibly lead to 'heart failure'. He was allowed to provide testimony via video link and concluded his evidence on March 3. The images of Pell eating the heavy meal and drinking a beer were taken six weeks later, on April 18. 'I am absolutely disgusted because he is protecting the church, he doesn’t care about the survivors or the victims,' Mrs Lane added.
'He does not give two hoots and they are all sticking by him, you wouldn’t be doing that if you had a bad heart, absolute bunkum. 'They are all sticking together, they don’t give a damn about the survivors and their families they are laughing at us.' When contacted by Daily Mail Australia about the revelations, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse said it 'has no comment on this matter'. Despite being grilled over several days in February and March Cardinal Pell, who is considered the number three in the Vatican and in charge of the organisation's finances, has always maintained his innocence and refused to resign. He has been under fire since allegations emerged about him allegedly turning a blind eye to the sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy in Ballarat, in central Victoria.
Cardinal Pell was questioned by the abuse royal commission over pedophile priests in the Ballarat and Melbourne dioceses when he was serving there in the 1970s and 80s. He said he regretted putting the church before victims in the past but he had never put himself before either. Cardinal Pell was questioned over Catholic priest Gerald Ridsdale, who was jailed on pedophile charges in 1994, and other pedophile priests in the Ballarat and Melbourne dioceses. While acknowledging that his denials of a cover-up angered abuse victims who said he must have known, he said he regretted putting the church before victims in the past but he had never put himself before either. He said the reason he sometimes came across as 'wooden' and 'armour-plated' was partly to do with how he'd been trained, partly to do with his personality and partly to do with 'needing to survive'. Cardinal Pell said at the time the 'evil, insensitive stereotype' being pushed by the media was incorrect. 'It's very, very difficult and upsetting. There's no way around it and I've tried to put out the truth,' he said. Cardinal Pell described claims that Victoria Police had also been investigating him over alleged abuse as 'extraordinary and completely false'. He said he had not been approached by police. He has always steadfastly refused to resign from his high-ranking position. 'I wouldn't resign as that would be taken as an admission of guilt,' Cardinal Pell said. Cardinal Pell said he was in Rome trying to do with Vatican finances what he did to clean up pedophilia in Melbourne.
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