George Pell condemned for ignoring abuse

The royal commission findings have cemented the belief among victims and their supporters that George Pell knew what was happening in the 1970s and failed to act.

George Pell with Gerald Ridsdale, left, arriving at court in 1993.

The child sex abuse royal commission’s findings have cemented the belief among clerical child sex abuse victims and their supporters that Cardinal George Pell knew what was happening in the 1970s and failed to act.

Timothy Green dared to confront Cardinal Pell about child sexual abuse by a Christian brother in 1974 and, while he says he feels guilt for not doing more, he hopes the findings of the commission will aid survivors.

In Ballarat in the 1970s, George Pell was an impressive figure, a ­potential pope even. St Patrick’s College student Mr Green dared to go up to then Father Pell in the change rooms of the Eureka Pool in 1974 and tell him children were being sexually abused at the school by Ted ­Dowlan.

Under questioning by the child abuse royal commission, Cardinal Pell couldn’t recall the incident.

In the full version of the royal commission’s findings, they accept Mr Green, then aged 11 or 12, went up to Cardinal Pell and told him a Christian Brother was touching boys.

They accepted Cardinal Pell said words to the effect of “Don’t be ridiculous” and then walked away. “For a young boy to complain about a Christian brother to a man of Father Pell’s esteem must have required great courage and must have been a very memorable encounter which he is unlikely to forget,” the commission found.

On Thursday, Mr Green said he was “very, very relieved” by the findings and hoped it would help other survivors.

Viv Waller, who is representing Mr Green in a civil suit, said he suffers from guilt at not doing more.

GRAPHIC: Pell’s lack of action

“It is utterly heartbreaking that his complaint was not acted upon,” Dr Waller said. “His worry that he has not done enough for others is equally heartbreaking. The failure was not his, but was that of the Catholic priests and brothers who knew and failed to report suspected child abuse to the police.”

Victims advocate Chrissie Foster said she hoped Mr Green felt vindicated. “As a boy, he knew the moral wrongness of it and went to Pell … the person you would go to if you had a problem in this area,” she said. “The boy Green did the right thing.”

Following the abuse of two of her daughters by pedophile priest Kevin O’Donnell, Ms Foster has dedicated herself to ensuring children’s safety and exposing cover-ups by the Catholic Church, a group she says now definitively covers Cardinal Pell.

“He should have done something,” she said. “The whole thing of it is they hid (the abuse), not just Pell but they all hid it.”

Ms Foster said the actions of Cardinal Pell and others, who ignored or covered up the abuse, aided and abetted the criminals.

Michael Magazanik, who also represents several victims of the Catholic Church, said the final report was balanced.

“It paints a picture of a man who behaved disgracefully in not regarding the sexual abuse of children as a serious matter,” he said.

He said the report found Cardinal Pell failed to ensure the Christian Brothers dealt properly with Dowlan in Ballarat and that he would have known about alle­gations regarding Ridsdale.

“The gravity of his failures is ­extreme,” Mr Magazanik said.

“He shares responsibility for a large number of ruined lives.”

He said the report found Cardinal Pell failed to respond properly and stop child sexual abuse and was party to decisions allowing abusers to be shifted or to resign for ill-health.