Victorian probe has questions for Cardinal George Pell

THE nation's most powerful Catholic, Sydney Archbishop George Pell, is to be called before the Victorian child sex abuse inquiry.

THE nation's most powerful Catholic, Sydney Archbishop George Pell, is to be called before the Victorian child sex abuse inquiry to explain his and the church's role in the scandal.

Cardinal Pell will be called as the Victorian inquiry plans to hand over thousands of pages of information to the sex abuse royal commission.

Committee members in Victoria plan to ask Cardinal Pell to give evidence once expert witnesses and victims have laid out the extent of the problem that has gripped the church and other denominations.

Cardinal Pell has close links to the Catholic Church's Ballarat diocese and stood by the side of disgraced former priest Gerald Ridsdale during the latter's first court appearance in 1993.

Ridsdale, who has served 20 years in jail, is acknowledged as one of the church's worst offenders anywhere in the world.

The Australian has been told the parliamentary committee will soon return to Ballarat to hear victims' evidence, with hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of people affected by decades of abuse.

Ridsdale alone is likely to have had hundreds of victims.

Cardinal Pell, who later lamented attending court with Ridsdale, was one of the architects of the church's response to the abuse scandal while serving as archbishop of the Melbourne diocese.

Sources said the Victorian investigation had been carefully constructed so that bodies such as the Catholic Church would be questioned last, when all the evidence had been collated.

The inquiry is to address the core questions of who knew what and when, and why the church covered up offences and moved priests when evidence emerged they were offending.

The Victorian inquiry was seen as a catalyst for the Gillard government's royal commission. It is likely to miss its initial reporting deadline of early this year and is unlikely to report until the end of this year. Some evidence, including from Victoria Police, is seen as highly contentious.

Cardinal Pell has previously said he was prepared to appear before the Victorian inquiry.

Committee members, meanwhile, have written to dozens of groups and individuals who have submitted evidence, informing them that they do not have to appear before both the Victorian inquiry and the royal commission.

There are concerns the trauma involved with having to twice relive the past could be too great.

However, it is believed most people want to contribute to both inquiries.