AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun
February 8, 2016
Shannon Deery
Herald Sun
CARDINAL George Pell says he wishes he could have returned to Australia to testify at the child abuse royal commission in person.
Instead Cardinal Pell, the third most senior figure in the global Catholic Church, will give his evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse from the Vatican.
It follows a ruling by commission chair Justice Peter McClellan that Pell could testify via videolink because of the cardinal’s poor health.
In a statement issued this morning from Rome Cardinal Pell said he was eager to respond to specific claims that have been made against him.
They include that he turned a blind eye to abuse and was involved in decisions to shuffle notorious paedophile Gerald Ridsdale between parishes. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
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