George Pell warns against moves he says would amount to discrimination against Catholics
[written submission]
[appendix 1]
[appendix 2
[appendix 3]
[appendix 4]
PIA AKERMAN From: The Australian May 29, 2013
CARDINAL George Pell has warned Victoria not to pursue legislative change which would help sexual abuse victims sue for greater compensation, saying such a move would amount to discrimination against Catholics.
In a written submission to the Victorian inquiry examining responses to child sexual abuse, the nation’s most senior Catholic cleric said legal changes proposed by victims’ rights groups would be a significant departure from the law and “cause considerable injustice”.
Cardinal Pell said a number of submissions to the inquiry, which he testified before on Monday, had shown “misunderstanding of the facts and analysis” underpinning the NSW Court of Appeal decision which found the church did not exist as a legal entity capable of being sued.
“The Ellis decision stands for nothing more than the commonsense proposition that you cannot be liable for wrongdoing of others unless you authorised, or are directly or indirectly responsible for supervising, their conduct,” he said, referring to the ruling on 2004 legal action taken against the church by abused altar boy John Ellis.
“The body corporate which Mr Ellis sued was created in 1936 by statute and has operated on the same basis in Sydney since its creation.
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.