AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald
December 16, 2015
Jane Lee
Cardinal George Pell’s former housemate has been accused of lying to a child abuse royal commission to “save” his friend from accusations that he tried to bribe a survivor to keep quiet.
At an earlier hearing, survivor David Ridsdale accused Cardinal Pell of trying to bribe him in 1993, after Mr Ridsdale told the cardinal that his uncle, paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale, had abused him.
Mr Ridsdale claimed that, during a telephone conversation, Cardinal Pell – at the time an auxilliary bishop – had said “I want to know what it will take to keep you quiet”.
Cardinal Pell has always denied this happened and his lawyers have argued that the claim arose out of a “misunderstanding”.
Mentone priest Reverend John Walshe, who was living with Cardinal Pell at the time, told the commission in Ballarat that immediately after the call Cardinal Pell had appeared upset and worried for Mr Ridsdale.
“His demeanour,” Father Walshe said, “was not that of a person that had been in a rude or angry conversation”.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.