AUSTRALIA
Yahoo! News
By Freya Michie | ABC
Cardinal George Pell says he was surprised by the number of complaints made in the lead up to the introduction of the Melbourne Response to abuse within the Catholic Church.
Cardinal Pell has appeared at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Melbourne via video-link from the Vatican.
The inquiry has been examining the Catholic Church’s Melbourne Response, which Cardinal Pell established when he was Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996.
Under the scheme, independent commissioners were appointed to investigate claims, a free counselling and support service known as Carelink was created, as well as a panel to provide ex-gratia compensation payments.
Once victims went to police they were no longer eligible for compensation.
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