Pell and popes all ‘gave out the wrong message’ on child sex abuse

A retired Catholic bishop has issued a withering assessment of church leaders from the Pope to Cardinal George Pell.

Bishop Geoffrey Robinson arrives to give evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

A retired Catholic bishop has issued a withering assessment of church leaders from the Pope to Cardinal George Pell, who he said had hampered the church’s ability to adopt a “profound and enduring” approach to victims abused by clergy.

“Some popes gave out the wrong message,” Bishop Geoffrey Robinson told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney.

“Oh, and some archbishops,” he added.

In the early 1990s, John Paul II could have made clear there was “no place” in the church for pedophiles but instead “silence”was the default response, Bishop Robinson said.

“We still haven’t had that kind of leadership, not even from (Pope) Francis.”

To highlight the Vatican’s avoidance of sex abuse in the church, the 78-year-old cited a footnote on an internal clergy discussion paper on child sex abuse from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is responsible for defending Catholic doctrine.

“Even though it is among the most serious crimes, (pedophilia) is not the most serious,” the document allegedly read, citing homicide and abortion as greater offences.

The former Sydney auxiliary bishop said Cardinal Pell undermined unanimity across Australian clergy by dropping a “bombshell” in 1996 when he announced Melbourne would release its own protocol for responding to complaints, despite having participated in a decade of work for a comprehensive countrywide approach.

“(Pell) destroyed our unity,” said Bishop Robinson, who helped write the Catholic Church’s sex abuse policy.

He adding that most priests had wished Cardinal Pell would be transferred as he was “not a team player”.