‘It was the smooth Pell on the stand’: Father of abuse victims

ROME
news.com.au

A FATHER of two girls who were raped by a priest while in primary school said it was “the smooth Cardinal Pell” testifying to the child abuse Royal Commission from Rome.

Anthony Foster, whose daughters Emma and Katie were both assaulted by Melbourne priest Father Kevin O’Donnell, said he had “given up hope” that George Pell would fix the Church’s response to institutional paedophilia.

“Quest over,” said Mr Foster, according to the ABC. “It was the smooth Cardinal Pell, not the Cardinal Pell, we saw on the stand.”

The husband and father confronted Pell outside the hearing at the Hotel Quirinale after the Cardinal’s second day of testimony via video link, telling him “he was holding the hand of a broken man”.

After two of Mr Foster’s three daughters were raped, Emma became addicted to drugs, had eating disorders and self-harmed before overdosing on medication at 26. Katie was hit by a car after a drinking binge in 1999, leaving her brain damaged.

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