AUSTRALIA
9 News
A letter accepting the resignation of a pedophile priest was backdated, contained no reference to abuse allegations and praised him for his “good deeds”, an inquiry has heard.
Cardinal George Pell has admitted the letter written by former Melbourne archbishop Francis Little was evidence of a cover-up.
Victoria’s parliamentary inquiry into child sex abuse heard that when pedophile priest Desmond Gannon was stood down in 1993 the reason nominated was “poor health”.
The title of Pastor Emeritus was conferred on Fr Gannon, meaning he was no longer an active priest.
Inquiry committee member David O’Brien said the title also indicated he was a person of merit.
In 1995 Fr Gannon was jailed for 25 months for molesting an altar boy in the 1960s, and in 209 he received a suspended sentence after being found guilty of molesting boys at Victorian parishes between 1958 and 1976.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.