AUSTRALIA
The Australian
DAN BOX THE AUSTRALIAN MARCH 21, 2014
THE Catholic Church was wrong to deny in court that a Sydney priest had sexually abused a child, despite a previous church inquiry finding the abuse took place, Cardinal George Pell’s private secretary has said.
The former archbishop of Sydney has also moved to distance himself from the handling of the controversial case, saying it was “disproportionate to the objective and to the psychological state” of the abuse victim.
Giving evidence yesterday to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Michael Casey said he was “a conduit” between the church’s lawyers and Cardinal Pell, who rarely uses a computer or mobile phone.
The cardinal’s instructions had been to “vigorously defend” the claim, brought by former altar boy John Ellis, who was sexually assaulted by a Sydney priest over several years during the 1970s, Dr Casey said.
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