ROME
9 News
By Nick Alexander
George Pell has continued to flounder early on the third day of his testimony before a Royal Commission, following a potentially disastrous performance yesterday, which threatens to turn the cardinal into an international pariah.
A particularly damning headline on one Italian daily screamed “see no evil, hear no evil, stop no evil”, with reports locals are harbouring growing levels of resentment that Cardinal Pell has brought the shame and degradation of endemic clergy abuse in Australia to Rome.
In addition to hostility from the local press, Cardinal Pell was confronted yesterday by survivors of abuse who travelled to Rome to watch Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic face a relentless grilling by the Commission.
Today the Commission’s focus shifts to Cardinal Pell’s time as an auxiliary bishop of Melbourne, an appointment then-Archbishop Sir Frank Little was less than happy with.
Taking up the position in 1987, a year before the church would draft a secret set of protocols for dealing with abuse allegations, Cardinal Pell had responsibility for the “southern region”, where similar claims about his alleged blind-eye to sexual abuse by priests have long fermented.
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.