AUSTRALIA
ABC News
By Joanna Woodburn, staff
Cardinal George Pell believes the Catholic Church should be able to be sued in cases of child sexual abuse, a royal commission has heard.
His position foreshadows a major shift in policy that could pave the way for abuse victims to sue the Church.
A public hearing of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse involving the Catholic Church has opened in Sydney and is examining allegations made by John Ellis, who failed in his attempt to sue the Church.
He was abused by Father Aidan Duggan in Sydney between 1974 and 1979.
In 2007 the New South Wales Appeals Court found the Church could not be held liable for the conduct of its priests, nor could it be sued, because it does not exist as a legal entity.
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