ROME
Sydney Morning Herald
February 28, 2016
Melissa Cunningham, Rome
The 14 sex abuse survivors who have travelled to Rome to face Cardinal George Pell as he gives evidence to the royal commission have described their visit as like being dragged into “the belly of the beast”.
Survivor Andrew Collins, who was sexually abused by numerous priests as a boy, said the group was made up of broken men, but together they were a formidable force. More will join them at the hearing.
“You put a group of broken men together and if one falls down, they pick the other one up,” Mr Collins said.
“Together we have strength. We could never have come here and done this alone. It’s not the abuses of our past that unite us, it’s our quest for justice which has brought us all to this place.
“This is the most Catholic city in the world, in every sense. It is enemy territory and we are being dragged into the belly of the beast. But we’re not here for a bloody battle. We’re here for the truth.”
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