Australian Catholic Church Liable for A$1 Billion over Child Abuse

By Bernard Lagan
The Times
October 26, 2017

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/australian-catholic-church-liable-for-a-1-billion-over-child-abuse-pbqqgtmmg

Cardinal George Pell is among those facing allegations of child sex abuse

The Australian Catholic Church believes it will be liable for at least A$1 billion (?583 million) in compensation payments to thousands of children who were sexually abused by the clergy.

The church has already paid at least A$300 million to victims, some of whom gave evidence to a royal commission that, when it concludes in December, will have taken testimony from 8,000 people abused as children by Catholic priests, other clergy and government staff.

The royal commission has proposed a national compensation scheme for victims, which caps payments to individuals at A$150,000. Much of the compensation will be paid by Australian taxpayers but the Catholic Church has assessed its own liabilities at about A$1 billion.

Francis Sullivan, chief executive of the Australian Catholic Church’s Truth,…