AUSTRALIA
Starts at 60
A new book makes some explosive allegations about Cardinal George Pell, Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic official.
Cardinal: The Rise And Fall of George Pell, written by well-regarded ABC journalise Louise Milligan, claims that Pell sexually abused two choirboys in the late 1990s.
Fairfax News reports that the book contains detailed claims that the abuse occurred at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne, it alleges, after Pell established the church’s compensation scheme for sexual abuse victims in 1996. The boys were in the choice and abused in a back room at the church, Fairfax said, citing the book.
The book also alleges that Pell, who has been criticised last year for his refusal to return to Australia to give further evidence to the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse within the Catholic church, knew about the activities of paedophile priests earlier than he claims to have known. At the time, Pell cited illness for his inability to travel from Rome in Italy to Australia for the hearings.
The book, due to be released next week, doesn’t suggest that Pell is guilty of the allegations. He has always denied any allegations of abuse, which started emerging as early as 2002.
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