The Royal Commission has found it “implausible” that Cardinal George Pell was deceived about the allegations of sexual misconduct by Father Searson.
“We do not accept that Bishop Pell was deceived, intentionally or otherwise,” it said.
“We are satisfied that, on the basis of the matters known to Bishop Pell on his own evidence, he ought reasonably to have concluded that action needed to be taken in relation to Father Searson.”
Over 100 previously redacted pages in the report relate to Pell’s knowledge and handling of child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church were publicly released Thursday morning.
The Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse redacted their findings in December 2017 in order to avoid prejudice of the jury in Pell’s trial of child sexual abuse charges.
Cardinal Pell was convicted in February 2019 and later acquitted in April 2020 after his conviction was quashed by the High Court of Australia.
In an interview with Andrew Bolt on Sky News, Pell said he would be “very surprised” if the Royal Commission’s report found that he covered up any of the actions of predator priests.
“I think it’s a bit ironic that I’m the figurehead, the scapegoat that has copped most of this because of what I did very, very early in 1996 to set up Melbourne Response,” he said.
Photo: Cardinal George Pell Redemptoris Mater Seminary, Sydney Australia by Kerry Myers available HERE and used under a Creative Commons Attribution. The image has not been modified.
