AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald
March 27, 2014
Saffron Howden
Reporter
Hours after apologising to the victim of a paedophile priest at the royal commission into child sex abuse, Cardinal George Pell made his final address to the faithful at a mass in St Mary’s Cathedral.
Cardinal Pell takes over as head of the Vatican’s finances in Rome on Monday after 13 years as the archbishop of Sydney.
Before hundreds of worshippers, including federal and NSW politicians, at a packed mass, he again apologised to the victims of child sex abuse.
“I apologise once again to the victims and to their families for the terrible suffering that has been caused to them by these crimes,” he said.
Cardinal Pell said he was “shedding one set of burdens for another” and called on the congregation to stay true to Catholic teachings – and to spread the word by going into politics and reaching out through schools and hospitals.
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