AUSTRALIA
The Australian
PIA AKERMAN From: The Australian May 28, 2013
GEORGE Pell has admitted that senior figures in the Catholic Church in Australia had covered up child sex abuse, with devastating consequences for the victims, but he denied a “culture of abuse” existed.
Yesterday a defiant Cardinal Pell disappointed victims’ groups by rejecting calls for the church to increase compensation payments, saying its Australian arm would do only what was required to meet “the law of the land”.
In landmark testimony to a Victorian government inquiry examining how abuse claims have been handled, Cardinal Pell acknowledged there had been cover-ups within the church, that abusers had been moved from parish to parish, and that this had led to more crimes being committed.
“There’s no doubt about it, that lives have been blighted,” he said.
“There’s no doubt about it that these crimes have contributed to too many suicides.”
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