AUSTRALIA
The Australian
Jared Owens
From:The Australian
November 14, 2012
CARDINAL George Pell has moved to release abuse victims from any confidentiality agreements signed with the Catholic Church in exchange for compensation but is resolute that priests who have heard pedophiles’ confessions should not answer questions at the proposed royal commission.
Australia’s most senior Catholic said yesterday the wide-ranging inquiry into child sexual abuse across religious, state and community institutions would be a “welcome” opportunity to “separate fact from fiction”.
The Archbishop of Sydney also lashed out at the media for “exaggerating” abuse in Catholic institutions, and denied any “widespread public cynicism” about the church’s efforts to bring abusers to justice.
Asked whether the church would seek to uphold historic confidentiality clauses to prevent witnesses testifying at the commission, Cardinal Pell said witnesses should be “free to say what they want”.
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