Australia--Cardinal Pell takes more criticism; Victims respond

For immediate release: Monday, Oct. 31, 2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790314 645 5915 home, [email protected])

Independent attorneys have concluded that the second or third most powerful Catholic prelate on the planet should have taken more action to safeguard kids from predators. We’re not surprised.

For decades, all across the globe, virtually every independent investigation into child sex crimes by Catholic clergy has determined that high-ranking church officials often hid, protected and enabled child molesting clerics. So too has Cardinal George Pell. 

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/10/31/pell-should-have-acted-priest-commission-lawyers

We share the view of Gail Furness and Stephen Free who say there’s no grounds to accept Pell's claim that he was intentionally deceived by Catholic Education Office about predator priest Peter Searson. Pell seems desperate as he tries to throw fellow church officials “under the bus” and deny his culpability, as we’ve seen so many bishops do when their wrongdoing is exposed. Pell also seems desperate when he tries to sift blame onto police, who he claims had more information about a child molesting cleric than he did.

However, we disagree with Furness and Free when they talk of Pell’s "failure” to take steps to prevent child sex crimes and when they say he “missed an important opportunity to recognise and deal with the serious risks" posed by one predator. We believe these were deliberate, repeated and self-serving decisions – not “failures” or slip-ups or oversights.

No matter what commissions or church officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Catholic churches or institutions to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 20,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

Contact - David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003 cell, [email protected])

Pell should have acted on priest: Commission lawyers

Cardinal Pell's actions during his time in the Melbourne archdiocese and Ballarat diocese have been raised in submissions to the child abuse royal commission.

The child sex abuse royal commission is being urged to reject evidence from Cardinal George Pell, who has been accused of failing to stop a Melbourne pedophile priest.

Lawyers for the commission argue there are  . . . 

Read full article here


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