AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald
Editorial
The royal commission has excused George Pell from appearing in person to answer questions connected to how the Catholic Church dealt with the abuse of children in the diocese of Ballarat – but this week he faced the music nevertheless. A catchy, pull-no-punches ditty from multi-talented performer Tim Minchin challenged him to get on a plane to answer the commission’s questions in person and called him a coward for not making the trip.
It helped raise $190,000 in four days to send survivors of abuse to Rome with the hope they can sit in on the cardinal’s testimony when he gives it by video link later this month. Their desire is simple: they want the cardinal, whose doctors have given evidence he is too ill to fly back to Australia, to face the same conditions as they did when appearing before the commission.
But the cardinal’s response was typically jarring, hiding behind procedure and lacking in the instinctive emotional intelligence, indeed humility, most of us want from our religious leaders, particularly those from an institution which has so profoundly failed some of its most vulnerable parishioners.
Cardinal Pell said he was prepared to meet the victims but that it was up to the commission to determine the arrangements for the video-link hearings. What stopped the cardinal from saying he understood the victims’ point of view and would urge the commission to allow them to listen to his evidence or would use his position as the Vatican’s third most senior official to help it find a suitable venue?
Worse, his statement read: “The cardinal has always helped victims, listened to them and considered himself their ally.” As survivor David Ridsdale said: “That sounds to me like Cardinal Pell is blowing his own trumpet.” And it is not supported by the recollections of victims.
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.