Cardinal George Pell’s plea of ignorance to child sex abuse ‘implausible’

The lawyer for an Australian inquiry into child sex abuse described as “implausible” the statement from one of Pope Francis’ top advisers denying knowledge of criminal allegations about two notorious paedophile priests decades ago — one of whom owned a gun and made children kneel between his legs during confession.

Cardinal George Pell insisted he was telling the truth, testifying to Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that he had changed a culture of “crimes and cover-ups” within the Catholic Church.

Pell, the Pope’s chief financial adviser, told the enquiry in three days of evidence this week that he was deceived twice by church authorities about child abuse allegations against Fr Gerald Ridsdale and Fr Peter Searson.

Pell said that as an assistant priest in the Australian city of Ballarat in the 1970s, Bishop Ronald Mulkearns had not told him that Ridsdale was repeatedly moved within the diocese because of paedophilia allegations.

Pell also said that as an auxiliary bishop in Melbourne in the early 1990s, the Catholic Education Office and Archbishop Frank Little had concealed from him accusations of paedophilia against Searson.

“It’s a mystery, but in both cases for some reason, they were covering up,” Pell told the inquiry in Sydney via video from a Rome hotel.

Commission chairman Peter McClellan told Pell his evidence of a Catholic Education Office cover-up “makes no sense at all,” because the office reported complaints about priests to the archbishop and vicar general.

The lead counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness, said the evidence was “completely implausible.”

Pell’s evidence that he was deceived by church authorities in Ballarat and Melbourne was an “extraordinary position,” she said.

Furness put to Pell that he had known about allegations against Ridsdale and that he had been properly briefed by the Catholic Education Office about allegations against Searson.

Pell denied both propositions.

The church failed to act in the 1980s despite mounting evidence of Searson’s bizarre behaviour.

The commission heard that one complainant said Searson brandished a gun and made children kneel between his legs when they went to confession.

Pell called Searson’s behaviour “abhorrent” but denied knowing about it at the time, and suggested that Melbourne Archbishop Frank Little, now deceased, should have done more.

“Archbishop Little for some reason seemed incapable or unable to deal with Father Searson, or even to provide any adequate level of information about the situation,” said Pell, suggesting he likely took no action to protect the church’s reputation.

Cardinal George Pell spoke to @Pontifex. "Summaries" being given to Pope. https://t.co/lZCvyYcBSQ #7News https://t.co/58pag2Kiw2

— 7NEWS Queensland (@7NewsBrisbane) March 2, 2016