AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald
Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher defends Catholic Church and Cardinal George Pell over response to child abuse claims
May 25, 2015
Kate Aubusson
Journalist
Sydney’s Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher has defended Cardinal George Pell over his handling of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
In a letter to Catholic schools and parishes in the Sydney diocese, Archbishop Fisher rebuffed allegations that the church used legal manoeuvres to protect itself from victim claims for compensation and applauded Pell for his handling of the child sexual abuse scandal.
On Monday it emerged that Cardinal Pell visited Ballarat and a school at the centre of clergy abuse claims just weeks before the royal commission hearings began in the town.
“Many things are being said about the church at the moment, some of them fair, some of them not so fair,” Archbishop Fisher wrote in the letter, which he posted on Twitter.
“It is alleged, for instance, that we are engaged in self-protective legal evasions.
“In fact, my predecessor, Cardinal Pell, was the first Church leader in Australia to introduce a more contemporary process to confront this evil and he repeatedly apologized when mistakes were made,” he said.
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.