AUSTRALIA
The Australian
CARDINAL George Pell personally endorsed his lawyers’ decision to dispute in court that a child victim had been sexually abused by a priest, despite himself believing the abuse had taken place, a royal commission has heard.
Giving evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the former Archbishop of Sydney said the decision was a legal “tactic” that he had been told was appropriate at the time.
The commission is currently investigating the case of a former altar boy, John Ellis, who unsuccessfully attempted to sue the church over his sexual abuse at the hands of a Sydney priest.
By defending the case, Cardinal Pell said he had wanted to discourage other abuse victims from taking legal action against the church’s trustees, which control much of the church’s wealth.
“So by having a vigorous defence, that would slow potential plaintiffs that they should think twice before litigating against the church?” senior counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness, asked.
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