AUSTRALIA
Sky News
Cardinal George Pell removed an expression of regret from a letter to the victim of a pedophile priest because it was ‘illogical’ when the Catholic Church was disputing whether any abuse occurred, an inquiry has heard.
The royal commission into child sexual abuse saw the tracked changes of edits made by Dr Pell to a draft letter to John Ellis, a former altar boy who suffered years of abuse at the hands of a Sydney priest, Father Aidan Duggan.
Mr Ellis said the letter, which he received on Christmas Eve, 2002, felt like the church was slamming the door in his face by rejecting his complaint.
The original draft, prepared by the church’s former director of professional standards John Davoren, suggested an expression that the church “very much regret any hurt that you have experienced”.
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