Fr Thomas Rosica, CSB, who works as an English language assistant to the Holy See Press office, issued a statement that "it was never my intention to sue" blogger David Domet.

Mr Domet had written statements on his Vox Cantoris blog that Fr Rosica said were false and slanderous.

The blog statements concerned Fr Rosica and Catholic doctrine regarding marriage and the family.

The blogger received a letter in February from a lawyer representing Fr Rosica, who is the chief executive of the Canadian Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation and Television Network.

The letter stated the claims posted on the blog were "libelous" and "actionable in law".

The lawyer's letter instructed Mr Domet to remove all references to Fr Rosica from the blog and post an apology, or "we will seek instructions to commence an action against you".

On his Salt and Light blog, Fr Rosica wrote that he had been strongly advised to respond, "as an individual and in no institutional capacity to the Vatican or to my place of work, to the continuous false, slanderous statements of a blogger over a long period of time that resulted in gross distortion, misinformation, many phone calls, letters and clear threats from callers based on the repeated false information contained in the blog".

But he explained that it "was never my intention to sue, but rather to issue a letter to ‘cease and desist' the frivolous calumny".

"A legal firm, offering its service pro bono to us, issued a letter to cease and desist. No lawsuit was ever launched against the blogger! The matter is now closed."

Fr Rosica wrote that he fully supports the teaching of the Church.

News that Mr Domet had been threatened with legal action led to an outpouring of criticism of Fr Rosica and support for the embattled blogger.

Sources

• Salt and Light
• Catholic World News
• Image: Catholic Dialogue

Cardinal Pell made this statement at the opening of another public hearing in Sydney by the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The commission is examining the case of abuse victim John Ellis who has lost lengthy court battles over the right to sue the Church.

The Ellis court hearings 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.

This is known as the "Ellis defence" in Australian legal circles.

In a statement read out at the hearing, Cardinal Pell said this case had caused him some concern.

The commission heard later that Cardinal Pell told Mr Ellis he had suffered "legal abuse" as well as sexual abuse.

"Whatever position was taken by the lawyers during the litigation, or by lawyers or individuals within the archdiocese following the litigation, my own view is that the church in Australia should be able to be sued in cases of this kind," wrote the cardinal in his statement.

This marked a dramatic departure from Cardinal Pell's previous approach to victims who pursued legal action against the Church.

The Truth, Justice and Healing Council, which represents the Church before the royal commission, is working on a mechanism to make it possible for all victims to sue the Church.

"We are talking about a legal reality for all people the subject of child sex abuse," Francis Sullivan, CEO of the council, told Guardian Australia.

Mr Sullivan briefed Australia's Catholic bishops on this recently before the latest hearing and assured the Guardian "the bishops have indicated their verbal support".

The mechanism for achieving this will be set out in the council's formal submission to the royal commission.

But as recently as March 11, lawyers for two Catholic religious orders told a Melbourne victims' lawyer that they still might rely on the so-called Ellis defence.

Sources:

• Guardian Australia
• The Age
• The West Australian
• Image: Sydney Morning Herald