AUSTRALIA
9 News
By Tyron Butson
Australian Cardinal George Pell has hit back at his detractors, saying there has been a “great deal of incorrect information” peddled following his successful bid to remain in Rome during a royal commission in to child abuse.
The 74-year-old clergyman will appear via a video link from Rome after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse accepted a doctor’s report stating he would risk serious heart complications if he flew to Australia to testify in person.
The commission will question Cardinal Pell over his knowledge of sexual abuse by priests in the Victorian Catholic diocese of Ballarat. He served as a priest in the diocese before becoming a Bishop in Melbourne.
But the Cardinal’s decision not to return to Australia has triggered the ire of abuse victims and the public.
Performer Tim Minchin even penned a scathing song, labelling the clergyman a “coward” and “scum” for not facing victims face to face. …
But Cardinal Pell’s office today released a statement saying he had “always helped victims, listened to them and considered himself their ally”.
“The past few days has seen a great deal of incorrect information relating to Cardinal George Pell and his upcoming Royal Commission appearance,” the statement read.
“As an archbishop for almost twenty years he has led from the front to put an end to cover ups, to protect vulnerable people and to try to bring justice to victims.”
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