AUSTRALIA
The Guardian
April 8, 2020
By Francis Sullivan
The bishops should end their obsession with Pell and take up their moral responsibility to victims
ardinal George Pell’s acquittal was legally the correct decision. His relief and that of his family and many supporters will be palpable. He – not the Catholic church – was on trial and the high court has seen fit to ensure justice was served.
But it is not possible to divorce the acquittal from the broader context of the Catholic church’s history of child sexual abuse.
With the matter concluded the Catholic bishops should end their obsession with Pell and take up their moral responsibility to the victims of church perpetrators and those who obfuscated and concealed on their behalf.
Context is everything and perspective even more so. The Catholic church has a shameful and confronting history of the sexual abuse of children. The royal commission made that clear.
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