Cardinal Pell is not a child molester. He is simply a sad character who has lacked female affection and his sex life has been confined to masturbation. His sin is that he knew of paedophilia within his church and chose to protect the church rather than the children.
The Vatican charged him with limiting its financial and reputational damage. The current Pope Francis was aware of the deal and honoured the previous Pope’s standing promise of a promotion to the Vatican as its "accountant". It was agreed his life would not be worth living in Australia after the paedophile dust had settled.
Everyone knew paedophilia was rampant in all institutions but back in the sixties it was an unspoken fact that no-one was prepared to face. Even good parents refused to discuss it.
When I was a kid there was a standing invitation to learn to play snooker from two priests who resided in the Catholic church at the end of Emo road in East Malvern. Via a side door and down two flights of stairs to a dark room with a lit billiards table. Half empty boxes of chocolates were on tables and there were stools for us to reach the table.
After being instructed from behind on how to hold the cue the agenda became obvious and we quickly left and never returned. Many other children remained. Paedophilia was a best kept secret even among kids. Parents simply refused to believe it existed so why would kids seek to expose it?
It is, or once was, an accepted part of almost all cultures from the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Aboriginal cultures world-wide, to Pacific Islanders and Indians of South and North America.
This never ending Royal Commission into child abuse has uncovered what was already widely known... but Julia Gillard’s terms of reference neatly sidestepped the Muslim community and shone a spotlight on the hated Abbott’s Catholic Church.
Pell’s sin was that he encouraged paedophelia by staying silent and shifting offending priests to alternative parishes. No-one has ever suggested more than that. Pell has been at pains to explain that child sexual abuse is not confined solely to Catholic institutions but his pleas remain ignored.
Pell’s failure to act when he was aware of the abuse is a sin in anyone’s language but it has contemporaneous mitigation ... EVERYONE had failed to act!
But this Commission needs a fall guy... and it’s Pell.
Gillard has done well.
Pell has agreed to all three requests to appear before the Commission. He didn’t have to because I doubt the Holy See has a reciprocal extradition treaty with Australia.
If failing to report paedophilia was a crime then every Muslim in Australia should be behind bars.
Somehow I feel sorry for Pell. But damned if I’m sure why.
