AUSTRALIA
The Age
George Pell has supported offenders, not victims and should be compelled to front Royal Commission: survivors’ lawyer
May 21, 2015
Konrad Marshall
Senior writer
The chairman of the royal commission into child sexual abuse has fired a warning shot at church authorities to justify their denial of claims that former Bishop George Pell tried to bribe a victim of clerical abuse and ignored the pleas of another.
Commission chairman Justice Peter McClellan is expected to decide on the veracity of the explosive allegations against Cardinal Pell because they deal with the church’s response to reports of child sexual abuse.
Justice McClellan stressed on Thursday that he expected Cardinal Pell to fully defend himself against the claims if he was arguing the witnesses had deliberately given false evidence or made a mistake.
“I need to confirm, if it’s not already plain, that just because the church parties have chosen to conduct their case … in a particular way and not ask witnesses questions is not a matter that we will have regard to when making any findings that we believe are appropriate to make when we complete our reports,” he said.
Church authorities’ own decision not to cross-examine witnesses “does not bind” the commission’s own approach to its investigation, he said.
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