ROME
9 News
Cardinal George Pell has committed himself to work with child sex abuse survivors to protect children from sexual abuse in the Victorian town of Ballarat.
The cardinal made the commitment on Thursday after meeting with a group of survivors who had travelled to Rome to hear him give evidence to the child abuse royal commission.
The cardinal said it had been a sometimes emotional meeting and it was agreed to explore the possibility of establishing a research centre in Ballarat to “enhance healing and improve protection”.
Ballarat became a hotbed of pedophile activity in the 1970s and 80s including members of the Christian Brothers and Australia’s worst pedophile priest, Gerald Ridsdale.
Cardinal Pell, who held senior roles in the church in the Ballarat diocese at the time has been accused of turning a blind eye to pedophile offending, accusations he denies.
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