AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Peter FitzSimons

I genuinely have no firm view as to the likely guilt or innocence of Cardinal George Pell on the grave charges of child sexual abuse levelled against him, and do not seek to pre-judge the legal process in any way.

But whatever happens in his particular case, it is worth noting the accolades coming Australia’s way for the fact that the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse begun by the Gillard government has accomplished so much in turning a much-needed spotlight onto the horrors of rampant sexual abuse by the Catholic clergy over the decades.

The charges brought against Cardinal Pell, the highest-ranked Catholic ever so charged, have brought world attention to the fact that – as pointed out by Gold Walkley-winning journalist Joanne McCarthy, whose work was responsible for it – we are the only country in the world that gone to…