AUSTRALIA/ROME
The Age
February 23, 2016
Suzanne Carbone
Journalist
The ornate four-star Rome hotel where Cardinal George Pell will give evidence in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is steeped in drama because the property is connected to an opera house where human tragedy has been played out since 1880.
The imperial-style Hotel Quirinale was built in 1865 and is where Cardinal Pell and 15 clerical-abuse victims and supporters from Ballarat will gather for the public hearings.
At the request of Cardinal Pell, the hearing will start at 10pm on Sunday in Rome, which is 8am Monday in Australia. The evidence will be transmitted to the commission’s hearing in Sydney.
His evidence will be streamed on the Royal Commission’s website. A room at the Ballarat Town Hall has been set up for people to watch the webcast.
In the eternal city, Hotel Quirinale is linked to the Teatro dell’Opera via its courtyard and is located on the popular Via Nazionale shopping strip that leads to Piazza della Repubblica.
From the hotel, it is a 10-minute walk to the Colosseum. The Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps are a 15-minute stroll, and the Vatican is 10 minutes by car.
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