Pell a Significant Presence for Victims
By Megan Neil
Pell a significant presence for victims Cardinal George Pell was a strong presence in Phil Nagle's life as a Catholic schoolboy in Ballarat. Mr Nagle grew up in a strong Catholic family and was eight when he transferred to the Christian Brothers-run St Alipius Boys' School in Ballarat East in 1973. But as Mr Nagle told a Victorian inquiry in 2013: "Ballarat's St Alipius Primary School in Victoria Street was certainly not the place to be if you were a Catholic boy going to school in the 1970s." Its 1973 staff included three pedophile Christian Brothers, with another also teaching there in the early 1970s. The school chaplain was pedophile Gerald Francis Ridsdale, the Ballarat East assistant priest. Cardinal Pell was the Ballarat East priest form 1973 until 1984 and, as episcopal vicar for education, oversaw Catholic schools in the Ballarat diocese during that time. "For me George was a very strong presence around my school when I was there in the early 70s," Mr Nagle told AAP. "He was always around at the pool at our swimming sports, so I've got a lot of memories of him being there. "For him not to be aware of what was going on, I find it hard to believe." Mr Nagle has travelled to Rome with other survivors to hear Cardinal Pell tell the child abuse royal commission about the church's knowledge and handling of pedophile clergy in the diocese and the Melbourne archdiocese. "He's a Ballarat boy. We're at the stage now that we really want to disown him," Mr Nagle said. "George is the one that should be standing up saying `hey we got this wrong and this is what we're going to do to fix it'. "Being the third most powerful person in the church, he has the power to do that." Peter Blenkiron, who was abused at the Christian Brothers-run St Patrick's College in Ballarat, also has childhood memories of the cardinal and remembers him coaching football and rowing crews. "He was always around the school. We always saw him. "He was a significant part of all of our growing up." Mr Blenkiron will also be in the Rome hotel conference room with Cardinal Pell as he gives his videolink evidence to the commission in Sydney. "There's people in the Ballarat community that I've seen who say `leave Cardinal Pell alone, he's one of the best blokes that I've ever met'," Mr Blenkiron said. "He might be. This is not a personal attack on him by any means. "This is about what his job was and the directives that were given from the Vatican to all bishops and all clergy about how to deal with this stuff. This is about changing that. "This is about saying it's time to get this stuff right and not enable a culture that can rape, mentally manipulate, physically abuse children. That enough is enough." The Rome group say they are on a quest for truth and honesty. "If not us, who? If not now, when?" Mr Blenkiron said. "We're a group of damaged men trying to get a message across: no more premature deaths and our children have to be safe."
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