One of Pope Francis’ top advisers acknowledged he had heard that an Australian Catholic school teacher who serially abused students might be involved in “pedophilia activity” in the 1970s, but said he had no idea how rampant clergy abuse was at the time, during an extraordinary public hearing of an Australian investigative commission just a few blocks from the Vatican.
Australian Cardinal George Pell, who testified via videolink from Rome to the Royal Commission in Sydney from Sunday night to early Monday morning, also conceded that the Catholic Church “has made enormous mistakes” in allowing thousands of children to be raped and molested by priests.
Two dozen Australian abuse survivors and their companions traveled across the globe to witness Pell’s testimony in a Rome hotel’s conference room, a significant show of accountability in the church’s long-running abuse saga.
And in a case of art imitating life, the testimony played out just hours before “Spotlight,” about the Boston Globe’s investigation into decades of priestly rape of children and systematic cover-up by the Catholic Church, won Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
“I’m not here to defend the indefensible,” Pell said as the hearing began. “The church has made enormous mistakes and is working to remedy those.” He said the church had “mucked things up and let people down” and for too long had dismissed credible abuse allegations “in absolutely scandalous circumstances.”
The lead counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness, questioned Pell about current Vatican efforts to address the crisis, as well as Pell’s past in Australia, where he is accused of ignoring warnings when he was an assistant priest about Christian Brother Edward Dowlan, a teacher at St. Patrick’s College in the Australian city of Ballarat. The deeply Catholic city has been devastated by disclosures about the huge number of abuse victims there, scores of whom killed themselves.
Pell, now Pope Francis’ top financial adviser, has repeatedly denied allegations that he ignored warnings decades ago that Dowlan was abusing students. Under questioning from Furness, Pell said he had heard “one or two fleeting references” to “misbehavior” by Dowlan in the 1970s “which I concluded might have been pedophilia activity.”
But Pell said he had not known victims’ names, that there were large numbers of victims or that Dowlan’s offending was general knowledge at the school.
Dowlan was sentenced to six years in prison last year for abusing 20 boys.
Pell also testified that he had been aware of a Christian Brother named Leo Fitzgerald who swam naked with students and said he had been told by parishioners that Fitzgerald also had a habit of kissing boys. But Pell said he had not believed the kissing to be sexual.
“It was certainly unusual, but … nobody said we’ve got to do something about this,” Pell said.
Pell’s acknowledgement that he knew about such behavior is the closest he has publicly come to stating that he had even tangential awareness of the scandal playing out in Ballarat, where at the time he was in no position of church authority. His concession came as Furness presented evidence that many people around Pell knew about the abuse.
“The sexual offending by Christian Brothers at St. Alipius school and St. Pat’s school was known by a significant number in the community – would you agree with that?” Furness asked Pell.
“I would agree that it was known to all the people whom you’ve mentioned, and they do constitute a significant number,” Pell replied.
The commission is investigating how Pell dealt with abuse allegations as a priest, educator and adviser to former Ballarat Bishop Ronald Mulkearns, as well as how the Melbourne archdiocese responded to allegations of abuse, including when Pell served as a Melbourne auxiliary bishop.
Pell was a consultant to Mulkearns, who moved Australia’s most notorious pedophile priest, Gerald Ridsdale, between parishes for years. Pell denies he was involved in transferring Ridsdale.
Pell dubbed Mulkearns’ handling of Ridsdale a “catastrophe for the church.” He said he was a prime candidate for the Vatican’s proposed tribunal for negligent bishops, although there is no indication the elderly Mulkearns would stand trial by the time the tribunal is operational.
But Pell also acknowledged that he too had made mistakes in often believing the priests over victims who alleged abuse.
“I must say in those days, if a priest denied such activity, I was very strongly inclined to accept the denial,” Pell said.
This is the third time that Pell has testified before the commission, but the current round has generated intense international attention because it is taking place near the Vatican. The commission allowed Pell to testify from Rome because he was too ill to travel home.
Pell entered the hotel by a side door and still hadn’t left more than an hour after the testimony ended at 2 a.m. Some Australian media covering the hearing reported that security agents pushed them back as Pell’s Vatican car arrived.
David Ridsdale, who was abused by his uncle, Gerald Ridsdale, said he was grateful that the horrors of Ballarat were finally getting global attention. Gerald Ridsdale is in prison after being convicted of multiple counts of abuse.
“We’re here to seek the truth. We’re here to heal our city,” David Ridsdale said. “We have the highest suicide rate among men in Australia. We have some of the worst drinking and violence problems. And it all stems from that abuse.”
In a statement Sunday, Pell repeated his support for the commission’s work, vowed to meet individually with victims who had traveled to Rome and said he hoped the coming days “will eventually lead to healing for everyone.”
Anthony Foster, whose eldest daughter was repeatedly raped by priest Kevin O’Donnell and committed suicide, said it was “astounding and empowering for victims” that the commission was now sitting in judgment of Pell on a global stage.
“I feel as though we haven’t just brought it to Rome. We’ve brought it to the world,” Foster said.
The commission has no power to file criminal charges. But commissioners can note in their report whether they believe someone has broken the law and refer the matter to police and prosecutors.
Pell’s testimony will resume late Monday night.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
It’s pathetic. As an EX-Catholic, their whole existent is about honoring the creature more than the Creator and now honoring their robed men, more than those they were to protect. It’s the good ole pedophile club of the irreverent catholic cult
Glad to find someone who’s awake. Most are deluded by this dragon-controlled behemoth that controls the world through secret societies.
Why do you think they get priests from other places so you don,t know nothing about them and they can continue to do the things they were doing before and you are to confess your sins to them He$$ No only to JESUS Period the Bible says do not place one above another and that means the priests on no higher than a man Period
It’s easy to understand why superiors would want to believe their man rather than the victims. And most victims might be too ashamed of having been mistreated to speak up. After all, the “priest” is supposed to be a man of God. And the source of the trouble is in demanding that priests must not marry. Well, that’s A source, but even married men may be attracted to other men or to women not their wives. But servants of the church should be ones who can control their wants and avoid temptation.
all of this goes away when priests are allow to marry as Paul said they would forbid. This is catholic doctrine in defiance of NT scripture. The Catholic church, not Christ, not Paul or the other apostles taught that priests are not to marry. This is what happens when man decides he can supersede God. They made their bed now they have to sleep in it. And I hope they DON’T
Marriage would not make any difference whatsoever. Pedophiles who are married still abuse children. Married pedophiles often abuse their own children as well as their friends. Having been raised in the Catholic Church, I understand why the victims did not speak out. We were taught to respect AND obey priests. We teach our children to respect and obey certain groups in society: teachers, law enforcement officers, scout leaders, ministers/priests, doctors. Therefore, many victims of abuse believe that they are to blame for their abuse.
The Catholic Church should have referred the reports to law enforcement officials for investigation. Instead, bishops covered for offending priests. This is nothing new. One of the conflicts between King Henry II of England and Thomas Becket (AD 1120-AD1170) was that Becket upheld the Catholic Church’s assertion that offending priests were under ecclesiastic law and were exempt from prosecution under civil law. This is the same attitude displayed by the Catholic Church in the face of the charges of abuse in the late 20th century.
Connie: I disagree with you that marriage would not “make any difference whatsoever.” It is indeed true that there are married men (including married pastors) who sexually abuse children and teens. However, there is a reason why the Catholic Church has a disproportionate problem with it. Catholic priests are told that they must be both celibate (unmarried) and asexual in order to please God. Many of the priests try to follow this, but find themselves unable to fulfill the command. Moreover, priests are often around young people (such as altar boys, catechismal students, youth groups), so they are tempted to use those kids for sexual release.
As well, there are many other priests who try to keep the celibacy/asexuality requirement, but end up breaking it by engaging in fornication, homosexuality or adultery. Such things, while arguably wrong, may not be illegal in many jurisdictions. However, they are against the church’s own rules, and cause the priests to feel like hypocrites in a lot of cases.
I emphasize that I’m not stating that all or even most unmarried priests sexually abuse young people. Nonetheless, I do strongly believe that the Church’s policies against priestly marriage do add to the problem.
Bravo Rodney, The eternally “Un-Knowable” has – as ‘self-appointed routine’ been constantly subjected to human interpretation – in different languages (in different lands) in different settings.
Yes ! Humanity could be conferred tolerance by humanity – but definitely not in terms of obstinate and immoral inflexibility conveniently termed as ‘ecclesiastic’ preserve ! No way…………….
A day WILL come when a Pope will forever outlaw such monstrosity that seeks to be ‘excused’ as (pretended) priestly “privilege” ! !
Hey ! It could well be the present good Pope Francis.
Maybe someone will send these comments to his personal perusal
I was taught by Nuns in my early years. Christian Brother’s in High School and Jesuits in college. I never encountered or met anyone who might be considered to be a “Molestor” nor have I ever heard of anyone with any sort of a complaint about any of the hundreds of nuns, priests, brothers or Jesuits that we came in contact with over the years.
It is a sad shame that lacking any good movies to produce Hollywood has resorted to bashing the Catholic Church.
Even though “Spotlight” won the Oscars I wouldn’t pay to go see an attack on my church.
I wish for the good old days when Hollywood turned out great movies that were educational and inspiring. I find myself more and more watching the Turner Movie Channel.
There have been good Popes and some not so good. Nuns, priests are human but have dedicated their lives to God. Some on occasion may have sinned. Do you think the folks producing garbage movies are sin free?
God is the ultimate Judge NOT you!
It so called good little folks like you who think priests are infallible, wake up and take care of our little ones. Shame on you defending the sliim dogs.
I was raised to be a Catholic Priest. I asked My FATHER whether this was what HE Truly wanted for me. I was devoted, believed in HIM only, (12) years old, and the night before I was to be driven to St Procopius Abbey, a seminary located in Lisle, Illinois I asked My FATHER an very important question to me that night; “Do YOU Really want me to do this [?], YOU Have to tell me plainly in my ear. I can’t be left thinking, did I hear YOUR Voice [?] or not [?]. It has to be clear; no guessing. I fell asleep that night anxiously waiting for HIS Answer to my question. I never having heard HIS Voice that night so In the morning I told my Mother that I am not meant to be a Priest of the Catholic Church, that I was not going to the seminary at St. Procopius (my Great-Uncle was a Priest there called Fr. John, who was Rector of St. Procopius seminary, it was a path to an doctorate level education that was essentially free for me and my parents). I can truly say that there are at least (12) Children of God who have The LORD To thank; For HIM Not saying yes to me that night. I know I Am very thankful.
Anyway the root cause of all this child molestation lies in the vow of celibacy that Catholic Priests are required to take. They believe they are serving God in this matter; even to the point that they are willing to ignore the LIVING GOD and the harm they are doing to the children involved. I’m not insinuating that all Catholic Priests are child molesters, far be that from me but to take a vow of celibacy, is truly an act of defiance and rebellion against the very God they purport to serve. God’s first Command to all man is, “And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”(Genesis 1:28) Again God Commands us all to “Be fruitful and multiple”. How can we “Be fruitful and multiply” if we are bound not to because we have yoked ourselves to a vow of celibacy. Those priests who vowed celibacy against The LIVING GOD have disobeyed HIS First Command to Man. How can anyone expect anything but perversion to come of it. It is their rebellion against The LIVING GOD now exposed. Don’t be alarmed by what you are about to see with your own eyes. The voice of one crying in the wilderness (of America) repent, return to The LORD, and Live Forever.
Due to typos I am reposting my comment: I was raised to be a Catholic Priest. I asked My FATHER whether this was what HE Truly wanted for me. I was devoted, believed in HIM only, (12) years old, and the night before I was to be driven to St Procopius Abbey, a seminary located in Lisle, Illinois I asked My FATHER an very important question of HIM that night; “Do YOU Really want me to do this [?], YOU Have to tell me plainly in my ear. I can’t be left thinking, did I hear YOUR Voice [?] or not [?]. It has to be clear; no guessing. I fell asleep that night anxiously waiting for HIS Answer to my question. I never having heard HIS Voice that night so In the morning I told my Mother that I am not meant to be a Priest of the Catholic Church, that I was not going to the seminary at St. Procopius (my Great-Uncle was a Priest there called Fr. John, who was Rector of St. Procopius seminary, it was a path to an doctorate level education that was essentially free for me and my parents). I can truly say that there are at least (12) Children of God who have The LORD To thank; For HIM Not saying yes to me that night. I know I Am very thankful.
Anyway the root cause of all this child molestation lies in the vow of celibacy that Catholic Priests are required to take. They believe they are serving God in this matter; even to the point that they are willing to ignore the LIVING GOD and the harm they are doing to the children involved. I’m not insinuating that all Catholic Priests are child molesters, far be that from me but to take a vow of celibacy, is truly an act of defiance and rebellion against the very God they purport to serve. God’s first Command to all man is, “And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”(Genesis 1:28) Again God Commands us all to “Be fruitful and multiple”. How can we “Be fruitful and multiply” if we are bound not to because we have yoked ourselves to a vow of celibacy. Those priests who vowed celibacy against The LIVING GOD have disobeyed HIS First Command to Man. How can anyone expect anything but perversion to come of it. It is their rebellion against The LIVING GOD now exposed. Don’t be alarmed by what you are about to see with your own eyes. The voice of one crying in the wilderness (of America) repent, return to The LORD, and Live Forever.
You can see my earlier post, but I dispute your assertion that celibacy is the cause of pedophilia. There are pesophiles in many walks of life, and many of the offenders are married. To claim that celibacy leads to pedophilia is too easy, and excuses these people of their behavior. It allows them to claim that it was not their fault; that, if they had been allowed to marry, the children they abused would have been safe. The children deserve better than that.
Mucked things up, are you kidding! I could say it better than that. What bothers me is why is there still a catholic church to begin with, Just look at their history, it’s one any other organization would cease to exist, at least one with a conscious, and the jerk said it went on for decades, make no mistake it has been going on for centuries. along with tortures, murders, and crimes against humanity. so can anyone please tell me how can anyone profess to be a member of something so horribly wicked as the catholic church. before you answer that if you are professing to be such then you have some blood and guilt to carry around with you also.
I feel so sorry for PatriotForever and others, that their beliefs are so far from the truth due in part to their focus on negatives and blindness to the vast amount of good the Church does, and has done over the centuries. Not to mention the sacred truths that have been kept and are taught throughout the world. They take the faults of the small minority and incorrectly ascribes them to the vast majority of those who love God and are good, holy servants. The big picture shows that the Church’ value is in its pointing to God, exhorting to love God and neighbor; keeping, clarifying and teaching faith in God, and its vast good works that greatly overshadow the shortcomings of the humans who are part of it.
And, I believe that those whose opinions state that the single, major cause of the abuse is due to celibacy will find recent, solid studies showing that to be incorrect. So many need to “listen before speaking” (get the facts straight).
Wrong again are those who believe celibacy itself to be biblically wrong…quoting Genesis regarding ‘multiplying’ on such a generic scale clearly overextends the meaning, and ignores St Paul’s exhortation that to be single is better in many ways.
The Catholic Church has always condemned serious sins, including those of abuse, but how that is accomplished has changed significantly (for the better) from previous ways of dealing with abuse cases. It’s previous ways were not so different than many, most, organizations back then. Hopefully other organizations, which have been shown to have similar problems, to the same or worse degree, will continue to learn from these hard-earned lessons.
Paul never said that *mandatory* celibacy/asexuality for clergy was mandatory; he simply said that it was optional. In 2nd Corinthians, mandatory celibacy/asexuality for pastors or anyone else is described as “a doctrine of demons.”
Legalizing homosexual marriage does not change the fact that homosexuality is a sin. We do not want the govt, elected officials and appointed judges to define what is sin. On the other hand we do not want religious people define what is legal like they have in Islamic countries. If so then it will be legal to honor kill your daughter Legalizing homosexual or same sex marriages may be the ultimate form of PC, political correctness and shows how far our officials have distanced themselves from any sense of right vs wrong and the Constitution. Our govt is based on the Constitution, not on the bible like Islamic nations govts are based on the koran. There they can and did place a contract out on a muslim for blasphemy. Here people, that us folks, are innocent until proven guilty. Except O put a contract out on obl like the mafia supposedly did. We even tried the Nazis after WWII.
The difference between Christianity and islam is striking. Likely zero priests or others were taught that child abuse is OK. This stuff is personal failure by humans, some of whom fail in this manner.. The failure of the supervisors was in the cover up. And cover up exists in lots of places, especially in PCDC now with illegal activity by very high elected officials not being prosecuted. On the other hand all muslims are taught what is in the koran which has some very unsavory elements. Our govt, elected officials, is responsible for policing themselves, just like the bishops, etc. are responsible for “policing”. Christians are all taught what is in the bible which can be summarized with one word. Love. Not all people exposed to the bible or the koran or any teaching take it to heart.
I am grateful to Almighty God for allowing me to be Catholic. While we have over one billion members now and we are ALL sinners for sure, there are only a few who belong to the molestation ranks of pedophiles who enjoy harming children. I am 82 and have never met a pedophile priest or ever heard of one in my area although I have lived in several states including Ohio, Kentucky and Florida. In addition, most of these crimes seem to be dated in the 70’s an era of sexual “freedom” which touched many, not just Catholic clergy. In fact, there are statistics showing Catholic Clergy to have the lowest percentage of all clergy, including Jewish clergy. Still, being Catholic, they should be leaders and there is no excuse possible for some of the charges. It does seem odd to see that ONLY Catholic priests have a movie such as they discuss here made to show how evil and bad they are while seemingly forgetting the other perpetrators from that era and from today’s rap sheets showing the great numbers of public school teachers and principals involved in sex scandals of all kinds. Those who would destroy the Catholic Church for the few bad apples would destroy so many good things that the Church does. No one is more caring than the Catholic Church. In every country on earth, the Catholic church feeds, nurtures and educates as no other. Without counting the cost, thousands of generous men and women from every country dedicate their lives and fortunes to the works of the Catholic Church and all history is filled with the church’s works in preserving and promoting the culture of civilization that all enjoy today. Without the Catholic Scholarly monks and friars of the past, there would be no Bible, few books and little history and culture recorded for posterity. The Catholic Universities, at all stages of modern history, are second to none. The hospitals, clinics, homes for all kinds of people in trouble, sickness and special needs are all part of the Catholic experience. The world is a better place because of Catholics and I am proud to be one. May God forgive the sinners while we hate the sin. May God forgive those who would destroy the many good to get revenge on a few bad apples. May we all learn from our mistakes and strive not to repeat them and may God bless all those who read these words and benefit from them. Who will be the next targets of unfair unbridled bigotry, who will be able to fend off criticism for so many years. Many of these crimes were done over 50 years ago, never to be repeated. May God bless all the good and faithful priests who have to live with this persecution and who daily face the venom of raging hostility. They do not deserve this and they are not guilty of these long ago crimes. I believe the Church has done more to repair and pay for the crimes of the past than any other organization on earth. Billions of dollars have been paid out and many feel some was paid unfairly to some who “got on the bandwagon” for a free ride. They will have to answer to God for that. For the rest, no one is more vigilant today than the Church on sexual abuse. You cannot serve in any capacity these days without rigid vetting when you are engaged in any kind of ministerial work with children or the elderly. In many cases, police clearance and reports are part of the ministerial file before one may serve in any capacity. The Church has bent over backward to make every effort to root out possible offenders. What other organization has been as vigilant. When you get to the bottom line, no one is more careful these days and the Church is doing a great job in every area. I am very proud of my church and her people. I will never let the few failures to darken my heart and soul against this beautiful and wonderful church that loves all, no matter what color, faith, what creed or any other division of human making. Even Jesus had a betrayer in his midst. We have to live with ours and we will go on doing God’s work, despite the few for the many. Thank you for listening.
This ‘Vow of Celibacy That Is Put on Men who Profess To wanting to be Priests …… WHERE Did All THAT Start ? And Why did It Start ? I Have My own Suspicions About It. I Doubt That I am just one Among a very few Who Question The Catholic Church About its` Celibacy ‘law’. Is This Something This church Thought up To Separate These Men From The World in order to grow the church… And To Make IT Possible…There Was Always Young Boys To Make it Easier for THEM To Live Separate. Don`t they Realize How Dastardly Wrong This IS ?? AND How Much Harm they Are Doing TO So many Impressionable and vulnerable young lives who are just starting out on their own journey thru this life…And how messed up their Thinking then becomes >>All due to Unscrupulous, selfish men who really, deep down, know they are there because they lack courage to exist in the real world. I Might be wrong about this, But I don`t think I am as Wrong as These ‘wannabe’ priests Are. Why Can`t they Be Allowed TO Marry A Good Woman,,And Not Be Vulnerable To Causing so much Grief .. to lives God loves and wants to be protected, as well.
Everyone deserves forgiveness, even the Catholic Church. “Let any man who is without sin caste the first stone” as Jesus quotes in the Bible. Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your church. I have been an on and off practicing Catholic for 68 yrs. Initially, when I learned about the pedophile priests and coverup, I wanted to leave the church. I tried going to other places of worship, but felt a deep sense of loss and longing. After considerable thought, I decided that in order for me to renew my Catholic faith and belief in God, I must forgive the Archbishops, Bishops and Priests for exhibiting profound weakness in not reporting the rampant child abuse. In order to move forward, we must first heal within. I attend Church to praise and show my love of God, not to judge and look down upon laity. I was baptized a Catholic and will die as a Catholic. It is my source of strength,and solace, along with the only place on Earth to find peace in this crazy world.