Our country’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, is trying to get out of returning to Australia from his post in Rome to give evidence at an inquiry into the sexual abuse of children by the Church for a second time.
Pell was originally supposed to fly home in December, to give evidence during royal commission hearings into abuse in both Ballarat and the archdiocese of Melbourne, where he worked as a priest and later as archbishop.
Now lawyers for Pell, who looks after the Vatican‘s finances, have submitted a mysterious medical report to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, supporting his application to give evidence via videolink.
Pell also asked that the contents of the cardiologist’s report be withheld from the public, but it does state his “clinical problems… make it difficult for you to undertake a flight to Australia which would entail a serious risk to your health.”
Victims of church abuse in Ballarat are understandably pretty PO’d that a) he might get a second pass to appear by videolink, and b) that the contents of his medical report was allowed to be suppressed when their grievances are laid bare.
Paul O’Dwyer SC, who appeared for one of the victims, argued it was only fair there was transparency around the reasons Pell couldn’t give evidence in-person, as surely anything would pale in comparison to the victims’ suffering.
“When you contrast what witness after witness has had to spell out about the most intimate details of their life … this fades into insignificance,” he said. “These are very common garden problems for a man of the Cardinal’s age. We say the report should be made public, not only as a matter of justice for the victims but also on the question of ordinary fairness.”
The commission chair will announce a decision on Monday.
Source: The Australian.
Photo: Getty / Handout.
