Royal Commission | Full Wrap

By Melissa Cunningham
The Courier
December 17, 2015

http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/3580387/royal-commission-full-wrap/?cs=4170

In her opening address on Monday, counsel assisting the royal commission Gail Furness said Bishop Ronald Mulkearns remained subject to a summons to appear before the commission, but is receiving palliative care and is unfit to give evidence. Read more.

Victim and nephew to convicted paedophile takes to the stand

Lawyers for Cardinal George Pell have suggested clergy sex abuse victim David Ridsdale misunderstood a conversation between him and the senior Vatican official in which he claims Cardinal Pell attempted to bribe him. Read more.

Allegations against Australia's most senior clergy at the Vatican continue to mount, with new claims emerging he told another parish priest disgraced paedophile Gerald Ridsdale was having sex with boys again. Read more.

Police hid sex abuse

A widespread conspiracy to conceal child sex abuse by a disgraced priest was orchestrated by leaders of the Catholic Church and Victoria police, an inquiry has heard. Read more.

Violent, sexual abuse rife at St Pats

A former St Patrick's College student has told an inquiry of a culture of depraved sexual abuse and brutality which existed inside the school during the 1970s. Read more.

DAY THREE

A retired Ballarat Diocese priest says he accepts some responsibility for relocating notorious paedophile priest Gerard Ridsdale enabling him to continue to sexually abuse children for decades. Read more.

Priest admits he knew about child sex abuse

A Ballarat Diocese priest who warned a family to stay away from paedophile Gerard Ridsdale says he felt “powerless” to stop the serial abuser. Read more.

Victim warned of ‘fight’ against church

Victim David Ridsdale says seeking legal redress against the Diocese of Ballarat for abuse he suffered at the hands of his uncle was like being molested all over again. Read more.

Bishop hid child sex abuse

Former Ballarat Bishop secretary Monsignor Glynn Murphy says despite having knowledge of mounting allegations of sexual abuse against children he never went to police. Read more.

DAY FOUR

Some clergy deny abuse

Australia’s most notorious paedophile priest still has the support of some members of the clergy who are in denial about his crimes, an inquiry has heard. Read more.

DAY FIVE

Parents disturbed by Ridsdale’s behaviour

A bishop is facing intense scrutiny for his failure to respond to the pleas of parents trying to protect their children from paedophile priest Gerard Ridsdale. Read more.

Pell says he is too ill to front the commission

Victims will have to wait for more than two months before they find out whether Cardinal George Pell will front the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Read more.

Victims left reeling from shock Pell decision

Clergy sex abuse survivors have been left reeling by news Cardinal George Pell will not be appearing at the child sex abuse inquiry next week. Read more.

EDITORIAL: Absent. But the truth can still set them free

Survivors of sexual abuse in the Ballarat Diocese were understandably shocked and disappointed when the sudden news came through that Cardinal George Pell would not be attending the Royal Commission hearings. Read more.

Ridsdale offending known years earlier

Senior church officials, including Cardinal George Pell may have known Gerard Ridsdale was offending in the late 1970s. Read more.

DAY SIX

Calls for truth and justice

They are in a city full of people but there were moments Ballarat’s clergy sex abuse survivors never felt more alone. Read more.

Victim tells of life inside “monster cave”

Clergy sexual abuse survivor Paul Levey says he has spent his whole life trying to escape his past. Read more.

Past priests admit system failed children

A retired Ballarat priest told a sexual abuse inquiry an external investigation of the Catholic Church was the only way to bring about change. Read more.

DAY SEVEN

Bishop Mulkearns “profoundly sorry” for concealing child sex crimes

Ballarat Bishop Ronald Mulkearns struggles to sleep at night due his role in concealing the child sex crimes of priests spanning decades, an inquiry has heard. Read more.

Priest stayed silent on sex abuse confession

A Ballarat diocese priest says he would have been more likely to report a priest for stealing from a parish till over clergy he suspected were sexually abusing children. Read more.

DAY EIGHT

Priest accused of being untruthful to “save” Pell

A Catholic priest has denied fabricating aspects of his testimony to a child sex abuse royal commission in an attempt to “save” Cardinal George Pell. Read more.