AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald
March 10, 2014
Catherine Armitage
Senior Writer
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will this week host the next bout of a 12-year battle over whether the Catholic Church can be sued for damages under common law, with lawyer and victim John Ellis once again facing off against Cardinal George Pell.
In 2002, Cardinal Pell, as Archbishop of Sydney, wrote to Mr Ellis telling him the aged priest who had abused him for years was too old to deal with his complaint.
The Ellis case, which went to the High Court in 2007, has been a curse for victims seeking to sue the Catholic Church because it established in case law, in effect, that the trustees that hold the assets of a church diocese cannot be sued because they are not responsible for the diocese’s activities.
Scheduled witness appearance: Cardinal George Pell.
Some of the most senior Catholics in Australia have been called to give evidence, starting this week, at the royal commission. Cardinal Pell is scheduled to appear last, which would likely put him in the witness stand on Monday week.
Even before the royal commission’s senior counsel, Gail Furness, begins her opening address on Monday, the battle lines are clear. They are laid out in a statement on the Sydney archdiocese’s website that has incensed Mr Ellis.
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