Cardinal George Pell will give evidence at Royal Commission hearings dealing with child sex abuse before he leaves for Rome.
A hearing in Sydney of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will examine the experience of abuse victim John Ellis.
Mr Ellis’s claim of abuse by a priest in the 1970s was initially dealt with under the Church’s Towards Healing process.
Mr Ellis sued his abuser, who died in 2004, Cardinal Pell, in his role as Archbishop of Sydney, and the property trust of the Archdiocese of Sydney.
The Church accepted the abuse occurred, but court hearings found neither Cardinal Pell nor the trustees of the Church could be held liable.
Mr Ellis’s bid to appeal to the High Court was refused.
The Ellis case established in case law, in effect, that the trustees that hold the assets of a diocese cannot be sued because they are not responsible for the diocese’s activities.
Mr Ellis said the Church has used the decision to shield its liability.
A Sydney archdiocese statement said neither Cardinal Pell nor the trustees of the archdiocese had responsibility for appointing or supervising the priest who abused Mr Ellis.
Mr Ellis received several hundred thousand dollars from the archdiocese.
The archdiocese also did not require him to pay the A$750,000 plus court costs.
Mr Ellis said the court costs were waived only after the archdiocese had pursued him for them for two years.
Cardinal Pell will move to Rome at the end of March to take up a new role overhauling the Vatican’s finances.
Since it began in September last year, the royal commission has held public hearings into the responses to shocking instances and allegations of sexual abuse by institutions across Australia.
Institutions involved include the Salvation Army, Scouts Australia, government-run children’s homes and the YMCA.
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