Cardinal George Pell has defended his decision not to return to Australia for this week's public hearing of the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse, with a spokesperson saying reports casting doubt on the authenticity of the evidence of the 74-year-old Cardinal's heart condition were "misleading" and "mischievous".
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse announced on 11 December that Cardinal Pell would not be appearing from 16 December, as planned, and that Mr Justice Peter McClellan, the Commission Chair, had refused an application by the Cardinal's legal representative, Mr Allan Myers, QC, that Cardinal Pell give evidence by video link.
The basis of the application was the Cardinal's current state of health but Justice McClellan said he preferred the Cardinal give his evidence in person.
"Justice McClellan noted that Cardinal Pell had previously agreed to give evidence in person," a Commission statement said.
The Judge further noted that the Cardinal’s evidence relates to two case studies which involve a significant amount of complex material. The Judge also referred to technical difficulties experienced when the Cardinal gave evidence by video link from Rome on a previous occasion.
It is expected that Cardinal Pell will be asked to give evidence in person when the Royal Commission sits in Ballarat - his birthplace and the diocese for which he was ordained - in February 2016. He has given evidence to the Commission twice before - once in person before he left for Rome in March 2014 to become Prefect of the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy and by video link from Rome in August that year.
He also gave evidence to Victoria's Parliamentary Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations in May 2013.
The Commission was to have heard evidence from Cardinal Pell about two case studies: one, on the response of the Archdiocese of Melbourne to allegations of child sexual abuse against Catholic clergy associated with Holy Family Parish and primary school in suburban Doveton and against other Catholic clergy in Melbourne; and the second, about the response of the Diocese of Ballarat and other Catholic institutions and police in the western Victorian diocese to allegations of child sexual abuse there.
Cardinal Pell was an auxiliary bishop of Melbourne from 1987-96 and Archbishop of Melbourne from 1996 until his appointment as Archbishop of Sydney in 2001. He became a cardinal in 2003 and moved to Rome in 2014.
Mr Myers tendered two letters, dated 10 and 11 December, and medical records, which he asked remain confidential. He said the Cardinal had been booked on a plane that was due to arrive in Australia on the morning of 13 December.
"Cardinal Pell deeply regrets this and has been preparing himself for this journey for some time but the circumstances in which he finds himself are the circumstances that exist now and he doesn't wish to delay the hearing of his evidence before the commission..." Mr Myers told Justice McClellan.
Justice McClellan said Cardinal Pell had written to him on 26 May 2015 stating that he was willing to give evidence to the Commission "be it by means of a statement, by video-link, or by attendance inperson". The judge had replied, asking that the Cardinal attend in person.
"Last night (10 December), the solicitor for the Royal Commission received an email from the solicitors for Cardinal Pell," Justice McClellan said. "The purpose identified in the email was to advise that the Cardinal is, again I quote: '... Currently affected by serious health conditions that, in the opinion of his treating specialists, make his travel to Australia unsafe, and to seek the consent of the Commissioners to have the Cardinal give his evidence by way of video-link from Rome'.
"The Commissioners understand the nature of the Cardinal's health issues and would not wish to take any step which might exacerbate them. However, given the complexity of the issues involved, and the fact that there are two case studies presently before the Commission covering an extensive period of time, coupled with the technical difficulties in Rome of the previous video evidence when the Cardinal was in Rome, it is preferable that his evidence be given in person in Australia.
"The Commission had already determined to sit in Ballarat to take further evidence in relation to the Ballarat matter, that having been listed for February next year.
"In the hope that the Cardinal's health will improve, rather than take video evidence this week, we will defer his evidence to the Ballarat sitting in both the Ballarat and Melbourne case studies. If the Cardinal's health has not sufficiently improved by then to enable him to travel, we will further consider the position, which may include further delaying his evidence to a date when he can travel safely to Australia."
A statement issued on Cardinal Pell's behalf on 13 December said some media reports had claimed that Cardinal Pell was too sick to give evidence.
"In fact, his doctors have advised him only that it is unsafe to undertake long haul flights. As a consequence a trip to attend a speaking event in Florida in January has also been cancelled. Otherwise he continues to be able to carry out his duties in the Vatican and to undertake a normal day's activities. His health issues do not preclude him giving evidence by video link, and Cardinal Pell did not wish to delay his evidence or the work of the Royal Commission. This is why he applied for permission to attend the hearing by video link...
"Cardinal Pell's lawyers tendered evidence from his doctors that it is not safe for him to undertake long haul flights at this time," the statement said.
"The Royal Commission reviewed this medical evidence and accepted it as grounds for deferring Cardinal Pell's attendance until February. The Commission also required this personal information to be treated as confidential. Reports referring to 'alleged illness' or casting doubt on the authenticity of the evidence of Cardinal Pell's long-standing heart condition are misleading and mischievous.
"Claims that Cardinal Pell is refusing to attend the Royal Commission or to face victims of sexual abuse are false and ridiculous. Cardinal Pell's whole career is a story of stepping up to meet challenges, not avoiding them. He is committed to assisting the Royal Commission in its work, has given evidence on two previous occasions, and is determined to give evidence in the Ballarat and Melbourne case studies. He has often met with victims of sexual abuse to listen to them and to help them in whatever way he can.
SEX ABUSE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH...
Australia Catholic Church's response to sex abuse was 'a complete failure of process'
Former Irish priest loses Vatican defrocking appeal
Sex abuse survivors to be cross examined during Australian Commission
US bishops happy for Spotlight to be shone on sex abuse in the Catholic Church
US Catholic Church paid $4bn in abuse compensation
On sex abuse: saying sorry is not enough - Jason Berry
"Above all, he wants to do everything that he can to assist survivors in finding justice and healing, and understands the importance of his evidence for them."
A lawyer representing victims of child sexual abuse, Dr Judy Courtin, wrote in Melbourne's The Age newspaper on 15 December that the Church continued to harm sex abuse victims by its failure to acknowledge the extent to which it covered-up sex crimes against children.
She said "the imperious quality" of Cardinal Pell's request to the Royal Commission to give evidence by video link highlighted his "hard-wired sense of entitlement – that same sense of entitlement that has underpinned decades of rebuff and cruel dismissal of victims and their families by Pell and his henchmen".
"Not only do victims want to tell their own story and have that acknowledged by the hierarchy, it is paramount that the hierarchy tell the truth about the full extent of its cover-up of the sex crimes and protection of the clergy sex offenders," Dr Courtin wrote. "The commission is very successfully addressing the first element. The second element, though – and not for lack of trying and perseverance – is not occurring. This is resulting in ongoing harm and injury to victims and their families.
"Last Friday afternoon, when it was announced at the royal commission hearing that Pell would not be attending to give evidence, the outrage and frustration of victims and families of those who had committed suicide was raw and shattering. Combining this insult with three weeks of ongoing denials and multiple memory failures by senior clergy in the witness box, the message to victims and their families has been one of arrogance and disdain.
"All that is needed is one brave person to 'fess up, blow the whistle and tell the truth about the extensive and inordinately damaging cover-up of child sex crimes in the Catholic Church. If nothing else, the millions and millions of dollars being spent by the Church to defend the indefensible at this royal commission, could be given to victims and their families for the unspeakable harm they continue to suffer.
"The performances by the Catholic Church at the royal commission hearings are but a public charade. How contemptuous."
KEEP UP TO DATE ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK...
Follow all the latest news and events from the Catholic world via The Tablet's Twitter feed @the_tablet
Or you can join in the debate at our community page on Facebook
Loading ...
