George Pell Too Unwell to Fly, Days before Decision on Royal Commission Appearance
By Melissa Davey
Australia’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, is still too unwell to fly and will address a philanthropic Catholic organisation in the US on Thursday via video link from Rome. It comes days before Australia’s royal commission into institutional responses into child sexual abuse is due to hear from Pell’s lawyers about whether he will be well enough to appear in person before the commission in February, when hearings are due to continue in Ballarat. Pell angered Australian child sexual abuse victims in December when he cancelled his flight to Melbourne days before he was due to appear before the commission. The Vatican said Pell was too ill to travel although his specific medical condition was not disclosed. A directions hearing will be held by the royal commission in Sydney on Friday 5 February to hear whether Pell will appear in person when hearings resume. But it appears Pell is still too unwell to travel. His office confirmed that his membership address to Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities, at its Miami symposium, will be delivered via video link from the Vatican, where Pell is the chief financial adviser. In the first round of Ballarat hearings, which are examining child sexual abuse by the Catholic clergy within Ballarat institutions, the royal commission heard allegations that Pell had tried to bribe a child sex abuse victim, David Ridsdale, the nephew and victim of Gerald Francis Ridsdale, after he came forward about his abuse. The commission also heard evidence which suggested Pell was involved in the decision to move Ridsdale, who was his friend, between parishes once the abuse came to light, including parishes in Mildura, Swan Hill, Warrnambool, Apollo Bay, Ballarat and Mortlake. Pell has strongly denied the allegations. He said after the hearings in May that he was “horrified” by them, and that he would fly to Australia to appear before the commission to give evidence. But his ill health has prevented that. Meanwhile, survivors of child sexual abuse in Australian institutions have urged the federal government to announce its response to the royal commission’s proposal for a national redress scheme, and say they are sick of waiting. The commission made its final recommendations for victim compensation in September, and said a national redress scheme was needed to ensure justice for survivors. The commission said the government should announce its willingness to adopt such a scheme by the end of 2015. In mid-January, the social services minister, Christian Porter, confirmed an announcement about the federal response to the scheme would be made by the end of January. But days before the end of the month, there is no information about when an announcement might be made. Guardian Australia sought comment from Porter’s office and was referred to the office of the attorney general, George Brandis. Guardian Australia is yet to receive a response. Leonie Sheedy is head of the Care Leavers Australia Network, a support and advocacy group for those abused in children’s homes, foster care and other institutions. “Our members are extremely anxious waiting for an exact date for this announcement from the federal government,” she said. “Waiting for our government to show it cares. Waiting for the government to show it recognises and will address the abuse we endured and the health conditions we suffer as a result. “Waiting for their response feels like we’re back in those orphanages, waiting for the beatings to stop, waiting for food, waiting for love, waiting for the rapes to end, waiting for someone to care.”
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