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The Archbishop of Sydney has said the hammering Cardinal George Pell is taking over the handling of abuse cases is starting to take its toll.
Archbishop Anthony Fisher told Crux that the cardinal has responded to most of these most recent charges several times before.
“People think he’s indestructible, but I’ve sensed seeing him this time that it’s getting to him,” Archbishop Fisher said.
“It just goes on and on. No matter how many inquiries there are it just keeps coming back, and it gets a bit more vicious each time.”
Archbishop Fisher predicted that Cardinal Pell will return to Australia later this year to face another round of interrogation by a royal commission.
He said it is possible the final report will contain “adverse findings” accusing Cardinal Pell of having failed to act appropriately.
It is unlikely there will be any criminal indictment against the cardinal, he said.
But there could be additional lawsuits as a result of the report, triggering what he called a “show trial” about Cardinal Pell’s conduct.
Despite that, Archbishop Fisher predicted that Cardinal Pell will retain his position in Rome as prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy.
“In reality, he was the first bishop in the country to move on [confronting abuse scandals],” Archbishop Fisher said.
Cardinal Pell came under renewed media scrutiny during a recent royal commission hearing to horrific abuse cases in Ballarat in Victoria.
Some critics who’ve testified before the commission implied he had knowledge of abuse at the time but failed to report it, while others suggested he helped cover it up later as he began to climb the ecclesiastical ladder.
Cardinal Pell was born in Ballarat and served as a young priest there, as well as on the bishop’s college of consultors for a period.
Archbishop Fisher noted that Cardinal Pell was never the bishop in Ballarat and had no direct responsibility for priests in the diocese.
Sources
- Crux
- Image: Perth Catholic
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