This frame grab, taken on
March 2, 2016, shows Australia’s Cardinal George Pell giving evidence
via video-link from a hotel in Rome to the Royal Commission into
Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney. (Photo by AFP)
Pope Francis’ chief financial
adviser has been accused of failing to act on horrific and incessant
child abuse by two Australian priests decades ago despite allegedly
knowing about them. The adviser, Australian Cardinal
George Pell, is attending an ongoing investigation by the
Canberra-appointed Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to
Child Sexual Abuse. He is testifying to the commission via video
conference from a hotel in Rome. On Wednesday, Gail Furness, the
lead counsel assisting the commission, accused the 74-year-old cleric of
having had knowledge of the pedophile activities of priests Gerald
Ridsdale and Peter Searson but denying the knowledge as an explanation
for his lack of action. Ridsdale is in prison on convictions of
abusing more than 50 children. The church substantiated four complaints
of child sexual abuse against Searson, who died in 2009. Pell and
Ridsdale were in the same diocese in the southeastern Australia city of
Ballarat in the 1970s. Pell was an auxiliary bishop in Melbourne in the
early 1990s, when Searson committed the offenses. Undated pictures of pedophile priests Gerald Ridsdale (R) and Peter SearsonHe,
however, has denied accusations by Furness that he had known about
allegations against Ridsdale and had been properly briefed by the
Catholic Education Office about allegations against Searson. Two dozen Australian abuse victims and their companions have traveled to Rome to be around when Pell offers his testimony. David
Ridsdale, who was abused for years by his uncle Gerald, told reporters
outside the hearing in Rome, “George Pell has consistently pointed the
blame elsewhere, accused everybody of being a liar and deceit. If he is
telling the truth, that would make him an extraordinarily ignorant man.” The
Roman Catholic Church has been hit by numerous scandals over the past
few years, involving allegations of child sex abuse by priests and
cover-up attempts by priests in high positions.
