Cardinal George Pell on priest convicted of abusing over 50 children: ‘It’s a sad story and wasn’t of much interest to me’
The Cardinal is testifying on the systemic sexual abuse of children in Australia in the 1970s within the Roman Catholic Church
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s treasurer and the highest-ranking official to testify in Australia’s inquiry into historic child sexual abuse within the clergy, called the violation of more than 50 children by one priest a subject that “wasn’t of much interest” to him.
Speaking via video link from Rome, Mr Pell told Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse that he did not tell his superiors of the rumours circulating of abuse in the 1970s.
The Australian Cardinal was a priest in the city of Ballarat in the early 1970s and is being questioned on his knowledge of widespread sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy in the area over a period of decades.
The Australian Cardinal said he had assumed senior clergy had been handling reports of sexual abuse committed by at least one priest who had been moved to another parish, and told the inquiry: “I would concede I should have done more.”
His testimony to the inquiry has taken on wider implications about the accountability of church leaders.
When asked about the abuse carried out by Gerald Risdale, a priest he had lived in the same seminary with and who has since been convicted of 138 offences against more than 50 children in Australia, Mr Pell said he did not know about the allegations.
“It’s a sad story and it wasn’t of much interest to me,” he said, prompting gasps.
The Australian hearing into started on the same night that the film Spotlight, a film detailing similar abuses in the Catholic church in America, won an Oscar for best picture. The film details The Boston Globe newspaper’s uncovering of systemic paedophilia within the church in the Massachusetts city, and of abusive bishops being move to different parishes instead of being defrocked.
Mr Pell told the Commission earlier in the hearing that the church made "enormous mistakes" and "catastrophic" choices by refusing to believe abused children, shuffling abusive priests from parish to parish and over-relying on counselling of priests to solve the problem. He also said senior clergy lied to him to cover up abuse.
Last year, Mr Pell denied accusations made at Commission hearings that he had tried to bribe a victim to remain quiet, that he ignored another complaint and that he was complicit in the transfer of a paedophile priest.
Additional reporting by Reuters News Agency
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments