Corrected – Vatican commissioner accuses Australian cardinal of “disregard” for abused children

AUSTRALIA
Reuters

(Corrects to show Saunders is one of 17 commissioners)

By Byron Kaye

(Reuters) – One of the Catholic Church’s commissioners for the protection of children has described the Vatican’s finance chief as having an almost sociopathic disregard for abused children, accusations the Australian cardinal rejected as wrong and misleading.

Peter Saunders, a member of the 17-strong commission advising Pope Francis on how to root out sex abuse in the Church, said on Australian television the Vatican’s prefect for the Secretariat for the Economy, Australian-born Cardinal George Pell, should be dismissed over allegations he failed to take action to protect children from abuse in the church in Australia.

“He is making a mockery of the papal commission (into child abuse), of the pope himself, but most of all of the victims and the survivors,” Saunders said on Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes Australia on Sunday.

“He has a catalogue of denigrating people, of acting with callousness, cold-heartedness, almost sociopathic I would go as far as to say, this lack of care,” said Saunders, a British victim of abuse.

He said Pell should be “moved aside” and sent back to Australia to address a separate Australian abuse inquiry, which confirmed on Monday that it would ask Pell to testify. But it did not set a date or say if he would have to testify in person.

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.