The prominent Jesuit priest and law professor Fr Frank Brennan has called for the “witch-hunt” against Cardinal George Pell to end, acknowledging that while he and Cardinal Pell were far from friends, no one could fault the Cardinal’s commitment to address the issue of child sexual abuse since he became Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996.
The cardinal’s most outspoken recent critic has been Peter Saunders, an abuse survivor who advises Pope Francis through the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. Mr Saunders said in a scathing interview on the Australian TV programme “60 Minutes on Sunday” last week that the position of Cardinal Pell, who is Prefect of the Holy See’s Secretariat for the Economy, was untenable. Cardinal Pell said he was considering legal action against Mr Saunders.
In an article in “The Australian” newspaper on 3 June, Fr Brennan, Professor of Law at Australian Catholic University, wrote: “From the first day of his appointment as Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996, Pell went into overdrive seeking a means for dealing promptly and efficiently with abuse claims.”
"We await Cardinal Pell's appearance before the Royal Commission [later this year],” Fr Brennan continued. “He should drop all threats to sue any member of Pope Francis’ commission. While he calls off the defamation lawyers, his enemies should call off the witch-hunt.”
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