George Pell a dead duck now, if not before

Father Peter Searson stabbed a bird with a screwdriver in front of horrified children

But wasn’t the bird already dead when the priest stabbed it with a screwdriver?

That was Cardinal George Pell’s bizarre response yesterday when asked about a notorious priest who attacked a bird in front of horrified children. Father Peter Searson — later convicted of pedophilia — had a long history of cruelty to animals and children. Pell was asked about Searson because when Pell was auxiliary bishop of Melbourne he came under Pell’s direct responsibility.

LIVE: Pell’s testimony, day four

Pell’s response about whether the bird was already dead when Searson stabbed it was a strange one — counsel assisting Gail Furness asked whether it mattered. But it typified how disastrous this royal commission has been for Pell.

In some ways, yesterday was worse for Pell than Tuesday, when he tried to argue that he had no idea Gerald Ridsdale, with whom he shared a presbytery for almost a year, was a pedophile. Tuesday was when he also uttered the line that will long resonate — that Ridsdale’s pedophilic spree “wasn’t of much interest to me”. But that was a public relations disaster more than anything because, ultimately, responsibility for Ridsdale’s life of crime lies with the then bishop of Ballarat, Ronald Mulkearns.

But yesterday Pell was questioned about issues relating directly to him. Much of the questioning centred on Searson, who worked at Sunbury and then Doveton. The commission has heard how Searson’s behaviour revolted parents and children.

One teacher would not allow her students to be in Searson’s presence without an adult.

The commission yesterday established all the complaints on the public record about Searson. At one point, he pulled a gun on two parishioners.

Pell even met a delegation of parents — some women said they felt intimidated by Searson and children told how he would tape-record confessions and make them say confession kneeling between his legs.

After all this, Pell was asked yesterday why he took no action against Searson. His answer clearly surprised commissioner Peter McClellan and the public gallery: “The position I accepted was the official position given to me that we did not have sufficient evidence to remove him.”

For two straight days, Furness has made clear she does not believe Pell — on Tuesday she said his evidence about Ridsdale was “implausible” while yesterday his evidence about Searson was “completely implausible”.

On Tuesday, Pell blamed Mulkearns and others for Ridsdale — nobody told Pell why the committee on which he sat was moving Ridsdale from Mortlake to Sydney. Pell said he had been “grossly deceived”.

Yesterday he blamed his predecessor, archbishop Frank Little, for many of the problems of the Melbourne diocese. He also blamed the Catholic Education Office for not telling him how bad Searson was.

Pell is blaming many people, but the real issue will be who the royal commission blames.