Former Priest Says Pell Verdict Will Not Create Change Within the Catholic Church

By Emily Jarvie
The Advocate
February 27, 2019

https://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/5928714/church-with-no-spirit/

GUILTY: Cardinal George Pell was found guilty of abusing two 13-year-old choirboys in 1996 and 1997 when he was Archbishop of Melbourne.

Former Catholic Priest Julian Punch said the Catholic Church needs to be deconstructed, following the finding of prominent member Cardinal George Pell guilty of multiple counts of child sexual abuse.

"It needs to be a different church," Mr Punch said.

"The church has really got to the stage where it is just a group of elderly men who are in denial and who've used the church in terms of a power base. They're certainly not representing any Christian spirit.

"I've got a deep spirituality and I don't see it at all represented in the Catholic Church.

"Besides the survivors of sexual abuse, there's many, many other people that are survivors in terms of the Catholic Church."

Mr Punch said he did not think the Pell verdict would encourage any change within the church.

"The victims and the people who have been cast out of the church: women, Indigenous people, the LGBTI+ community - they are the people that have retained a sense of spirituality," Mr Punch said.

"If the church is to survive and to be relevant it's those people who will do it.

"Many people in the church congregation will be hurt and I believe many will move away from the church, unless the church makes some radical changes."

Catholic Education Tasmania director John Mula said news of the conviction of Cardinal Pell was both shocking and sad.

"At this time, our hearts reach out with compassion to all those affected by the crime of child sexual abuse in whichever way it has presented," Mr Mula said.

"Each time we are confronted with the reality of abuse, in any form, it is an opportunity for us to reaffirm our commitment to ensure the safety of our children and vulnerable adults.

"Over the course of the five years of the proceedings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, enrollments in Catholic schools in Tasmania remained strong and continue to grow.

"Parents are able to distinguish between historical events and past failing and the current processes and procedures within Catholic schools to support the safety of students in their care."

Archbishop of Hobart Julian Porteous has declined to comment on the verdict, however he said he endorsed a statement issued by the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Mark Coleridge.

Cardinal Pell was taken into custody following a pre-sentencing hearing on Wednesday where his bail application was withdrawn and will be sentenced on March 13.