Shameful Cover-Up

Herald Sun
May 27, 2013

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/shameful-cover-up/story-fni0ffsx-1226651693648



"THE primary motivation would have been to respect the reputation of the church. There was a fear of scandal."

With these words, the nation's most senior Catholic leader, Cardinal George Pell, laid bare the true motivation behind decades, not merely years, of church complicity and obfuscation in ignoring or actively covering up the heinous and widespread abuse of vulnerable children who looked to it for protection and guidance.

Cardinal Pell said while saving the church from scandal was a primary motivation, the ugly cancer of abuse was allowed to remain and spread because the church either "did not understand just what damage was being done to the victims" or there was a culture of silence within ranks and a misjudgment of how endemic abuse could be.

In fact, Cardinal Pell confirmed to the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into church abuse the cover-up also occurred at the highest levels - including by former Melbourne archbishop Sir Frank Little, who remained silent, and previous Ballarat Bishop Ronald Mulkearns, who destroyed documents.