Skip to main content
Global Edition
Friday, March 29, 2024

Inquiry found Pell should have reported abuse

Duration: 01:20s 0 shares 1 views

Inquiry found Pell should have reported abuse
Inquiry found Pell should have reported abuse

An Australian inquiry into child sex abuse in the Catholic Church and other institutions found former Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell was aware of child sex abuse and failed to take steps to get the priests removed.

Emer McCarthy reports.

Former Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell was aware of child sex abuse by at least two priests in the 1970's and 80s -- but he failed to have them removed.

That's according to an Australian government-appointed inquiry into child sex abuse in the Catholic Church and other institutions.

Previously redacted sections of the Royal Commission's report -- which was first issued in late 2017, were released on Thursday.

Pell was acquitted last month on five counts of sexually assaulting two teenage choirboys in the 1990s while he was archbishop of Melbourne.

The Commission found Pell was aware of allegations of child abuse by two priests, Father Peter Searson and Father Wilfred Baker, and should have pushed for their removal.

It also rejected Pell's evidence that he was unaware of why Gerard Ridsdale, another offending priest, was being moved from one parish to another during the 1970s and 1980s.

Pell was the most senior Catholic worldwide to be jailed for child sex abuse.

He was freed in April when the High Court overturned his conviction.

Pell, who is now living in Sydney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment the findings-- the Catholic Church in Australia also declined to comment.

You might like