AUSTRALIA
The Advertiser
February 22, 2016
SUSIE O’BRIEN
The Advertiser
CARDINAL George Pell should immediately be stood down while child sexual abuse allegations are investigated by Victorian police.
Revelations in The Advertiser on Saturday of the police investigation into allegations Cardinal Pell sexually abused between five and 10 boys are serious enough to warrant this move.
Cardinal Pell has strongly denied the allegations, which cover the time he was a priest in Ballarat as well as archbishop of Melbourne.
However, while I am not saying the cardinal is guilty of the allegations, the church cannot ignore the fact that more than a dozen detectives are investigating the matter, involving adults now aged from their late 20s to early 50s.
Cardinal Pell remaining in his current position as the third most senior Catholic globally undermines all of the efforts being done within the church to heal and help victims of child sexual abuse.
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