AUSTRALIA
ABC – The World Today
ELEANOR HALL: But we begin today at the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse in Ballarat.
The head of the commission has put the Catholic Church on notice that the allegations made against Cardinal George Pell will be investigated.
A witness yesterday gave evidence that Cardinal Pell had tried to bribe one victim in the 1990s to keep quiet about his abuse.
Another victim alleged that he told George Pell in the 1970s of the abuse at St Patricks College in Ballarat.
Overnight, Cardinal Pell denied those claims.
Samantha Donovan is at the hearings in Ballarat and joins us now with the latest.
Samantha, what exactly did the royal commission chairman say about these allegations made against Cardinal Pell?
SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Well, the Catholic Church, Eleanor, at these Ballarat hearings has instructed its lawyers not to challenge the survivor witnesses about their accounts of abuse at the hands of priests and nuns at institutions in Ballarat and when those serious allegations were made against Cardinal Pell yesterday it was clear the royal commission chairman, Justice Peter McClellan was surprised that the church’s lawyers weren’t going to cross-exam those two witnesses on their accounts and Justice McClellan has raised those concerns again this morning and he emphasised that the royal commission is conducting an investigation and will be making findings.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.