Skip to content
The Catholic Leader
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
The Catholic Leader
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Cardinal admits Church failures

byStaff writers
2 June 2013 - Updated on 16 March 2021
Reading Time: 3 mins read
AA
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

CARDINAL George Pell of Sydney said he was “fully apologetic and absolutely sorry” when questioned at the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into institutional child sex abuse.

“I’m certainly totally committed to improving the situation. I know the Holy Father is too,” he told the inquiry last Monday.

He said the problem existed on two levels – the grim list of abuses and secondly how the Church dealt with them.

Cardinal Pell acknowledged the Catholic Church within Australia covered up the “foul crime” of child abuse and this had led to suicides.

Other points he made during his testimony included that the problem did not lie in Church structure but inactivity or poor judgements of some bishops in the area of sexual abuse.

He rejected claims that there had been a “culture of abuse” among priests.

“I think the bigger fault was nobody would talk about it, nobody would mention it,” he said.

Cardinal Pell conceded there was evidence to show that then Archbishop of Melbourne Francis Little and Bishop of Ballarat Ronald Mulkearns had covered-up sex abuse matters.

“I think many persons in the leadership of the Church, I don’t think they knew what a horrendous widespread [issue] we were sitting on,” he said.

The cardinal relayed an assurance from a senior Vatican official that any Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith documents in Rome related and pertinent to Australian abuse cases would be made available to the McClellan Royal Commission.

Related Stories

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

Cardinal Pell’s comments came during about four-and-a-half hours of questioning by the Victorian parliamentary commission.

He was the final witness in the inquiry which examined how religious and non-government organisations had responded to sexual abuse claims.

The inquiry’s head commissioner opened with a statement that criminal sexual abuse happened under the Catholic Church and it was covered up.

The commissioner said “this was acknowledged by your successor Archbishop Hart”.

The commissioner also asked why there was so much abuse in the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Pell said much research on the matter had been done in the United States.

Factors included the “enormous number of children” dealt with in the Church’s school system.

Cardinal Pell conceded the celibacy of the clergy might also be a factor.

“But as most reported paedophilia happens outside of institutions and within families, marriage is obviously no impediment to the crime,” he said.

He also said the inquiry of the fitness of candidates for the priesthood in the middle of the last century was too loose.

The commissioner also asked whether the Church’s primary motivation was to protect its reputation and money.

Cardinal Pell said the “fear of scandal” led to a cover-up.

“The primary motivation would have been to respect the reputation of the Church,” he said.

However, he said the Church always accepted its obligations to victims.

“Church officials can be sued. Church officials have been sued,” he said.

“We are always ready to pay whatever the law of the land says about compensation.”

Cardinal Pell said Australian compensation – a maximum of $75,000 – was low compared to the US but compared quite favourably with the vast majority of the world.

Among other topics raised by commissioners were the reasons for the establishment of a special issues committee in Melbourne archdiocese in 1988, the lack of response of Church officials to specific cases of clergy abuse of children and of the follow-up system of checks and balances currently in place and whether they were being followed.

To the latter question, Cardinal Pell said he was relying on all the other Church officials, other priests and, on occasion, parents.

He said nobody was complaining to him that the system was not being monitored and the level of crime being reported was very low.

One of the commissioners concluded with a plea to Cardinal Pell to read through all Victorian Commission documents and victim statements, and to carry that knowledge with him to Rome when he advised the Pope on the reform of the Church in late 2013.

Cardinal Pell said he was committed to improving the situation and that the Holy Father was too.

 

ShareTweet
Previous Post

Treat asylum seekers as humans

Next Post

Funding for Catholic schools welcomed

Staff writers

Related Posts

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies
QLD

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies

20 May 2022
Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition
QLD

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

20 May 2022
Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning
QLD

Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

19 May 2022
Next Post

Funding for Catholic schools welcomed

Marriage under attack by homosexual couple legislation

Thousands gather for Corpus Christi procession

Popular News

  • Pregnant woman

    Queensland election: The pro-life political parties committed to abortion law reforms

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Here are the stories of 10 new saints being canonised this Sunday

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Nationwide rosary event happening for Australia’s patroness this Saturday

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Angel’s Kitchen serves hot meals to the hungry in Southport

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Search our job finder
No Result
View All Result

Latest News

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies
QLD

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies

by Joe Higgins
20 May 2022
0

BRISBANE grandmother Gwendoline Grant has clocked up 15,000 hours cuddling and caring for sick and premature babies...

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

20 May 2022
Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

19 May 2022
Catholic relationship advisers offer five tips to look after your mental health

Nationwide rosary event happening for Australia’s patroness this Saturday

19 May 2022
Francis offers advice on politics: Seek unity, don’t get lost in conflict

Francis offers advice on politics: Seek unity, don’t get lost in conflict

19 May 2022

Never miss a story. Sign up to the Weekly Round-Up
eNewsletter now to receive headlines directly in your email.

Sign up to eNews
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929. Our journalism seeks to provide a full, accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local, national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader
Accessibility Information | Privacy Policy | Archdiocese of Brisbane

The Catholic Leader acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of this country and especially acknowledge the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyChoose another Subscription
    Continue Shopping