AUSTRALIA
The Australian
AUGUST 22, 2014
Pia Akerman
Reporter
Melbourne
GEORGE Pell has spoken out to distance the Catholic Church from pedophile priests, admitting a “moral responsibility” while denying the church had legal culpability as the priests’ ultimate employer.
Giving evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Cardinal Pell last night compared the church’s position to that of a truck company whose driver molested hitchhikers.
“I think it’s not appropriate for legal culpability to be foisted upon the authority figure,” he said, qualifying his answer by saying the “authority” would be remiss if it had prior knowledge of the offender’s behaviour.
The comparison prompted criticism from the commission’s chairman, as well as the barrister representing one abuse victim, Paul Hersbach.
“This was not a trucking company,” barrister Sean Cash said.
“This was an organisation of the highest integrity, one which you would expect would conduct itself in keeping with the teachings of Jesus Christ.”
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