|
Cardinal George Pell: Child abuse royal commission trying to find location for survivors to hear testimony
By Sarah Farnsworth
[with video] The child abuse royal commission has announced it is trying to find a suitable location in Rome to allow abuse survivors to be present when Cardinal George Pell gives evidence next week. A group of survivors has been pushing to be allowed to hear Cardinal Pell's evidence in person, after he was given permission to give evidence via video link from Rome due to ill health. Commissioner Justice Peter McClellan told the third public hearing sitting in Ballarat it was a "reasonable" request. He told the inquiry a suitable hotel room in central Rome had been located and tests would be carried out to ensure the hearing could be video linked back to Sydney. He added if that room was not suitable, another location would be found. Earlier this month, Justice McClellan accepted medical evidence the 74-year-old would be at risk of heart failure if he flew to Australia to give evidence. A crowd-funding campaign has raised $204,000 to send a group of abuse survivors to Rome. The group of 15, made up of 10 survivors and five support staff, will leave for Rome on Friday. Comedian and musician Tim Minchin released a song entitled Come Home (Cardinal Pell), with all proceeds going to the GoFundMe campaign. The song has been viewed more than 925,000 times on YouTube. Cardinal Pell last week hit back at criticism of his decision no to fly to Australia, saying he was prepared to "meet with and listen to victims and express his ongoing support". "Cardinal Pell has always helped victims, listened to them and considered himself their ally," a statement from his office said.
|
.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.