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Cardinal George Pell has withdrawn his support from a Catholic college at Sydney University following revelations about dangerous initiation rituals, destructive behaviour and bullying.
Cardinal Pell said he no longer had confidence that the council of St John’s College could reform life at the college.
He asked the five remaining priests on the council to resign and said he would ask the New South Wales government to amend the 19th-century Act of Parliament that governs the college.
The 150-year-old college (motto: “Nisi Dominus Frustra”, or “Unless the Lord is with us, our labour is vain”) is independent of the university. It houses 265 students.
The college is governed by a 19-member council, which must include six Catholic priests. Cardinal Pell has the position of visitor of the college, primarily a figurehead role.
The cardinal’s decision came after revelations that new students at the college were forced to endure degrading initiation rituals including being made to consume toxic drinks. In one such ritual, a girl collapsed and was admitted to hospital.
A former fellow of St John’s, Professor Roslyn Arnold, said young students were intimidated and routinely subjected to bullying behaviour.
Other reports said the college had descended into anarchy, with widespread vandalism, furniture being smashed and set on fire, and faeces routinely found in common rooms.
After the incident which left a teenage student in hospital, the rector, Michael Bongers, who had been brought in to try to reform St John’s, suspended 33 students for two weeks. But his attempts to make the students perform community service were overruled after submissions from lawyers engaged by parents of some of the boys.
After damaging allegations were publicised, a girl who claimed to be a first-year student refuted the allegations on television. Later she was revealed to be a senior student and member of the college house committee, which had put her forward to give the impression there was nothing wrong in the college.
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Image: ABC News
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