ROME
Sydney Morning Herald
Melissa Cunningham
Ballarat clergy sexual abuse survivors want Vatican law rewritten to protect future generations of children.
The group, which is still pushing to meet Pope Francis, will put the request to Australia’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, when they meet with him.
They will also meet a member of the Pontifical Commission for Protection on Minors, an institution which deals with the rampant sexual abuse of children at the hands of Catholic clergy.
Survivors initially rejected a meeting with the Cardinal after he was accused of “designing” his evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Response into Child Sexual Abuse to deflect blame from himself.
But after the Cardinal dropped restrictions, including that survivors not speak to the media about the meeting, they had a change of heart.
For several victims, the idea of meeting Cardinal Pell following his evidence this week is too painful and they have rejected the offer.
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