AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald
May 28, 2013
Jane Lee
Celibacy might be a factor in the high rate of child sex abuse within the Catholic Church, Cardinal George Pell has told an inquiry.
He also acknowledged that senior figures in the Australian Catholic Church covered up evidence about child abuse.
Appearing before the Victorian inquiry into institutional child sexual abuse, Cardinal Pell said the Catholic Church’s history of child abuse stems from loose entry requirements for priests, past errors of judgment and inaction.
Australia’s most senior Catholic admitted that the fear of scandal had led to the cover-up of instances
of abuse by some within the church but he denied that there was a culture of abuse among priests.
He said his predecessor as Archbishop of Melbourne, Sir Frank Little, was involved in a cover-up and he said that a former Ballarat archbishop had destroyed documents.
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