SYDNEY Catholic Archbishop George Pell said yesterday [Aug 2 02] sexual abuse by priests and abortion were both evil, and that his previous comment on the issue was taken out of context. The archbishop was responding to reports that he labelled abortion a greater sin than paedophilia by priests. But yesterday he reiterated that in Christian law abortion was the supreme evil, as it represented the destruction of innocent human life. Dr Pell was reported to have made the original remarks to 500 World Youth Day Forum delegates in Toronto last week, provoking an angry reaction for advocates for sex abuse victims in Australia A Canadian newspaper said Dr Pell told the crowd that abortion was a worse moral scandal than priests sexually abusing young people "because it's always a destruction of human life". Back in Sydney, Dr Pell released a statement saying sexual abuse of children was a grave moral scandal, as was abortion. He said his comments in Toronto had been taken out of context. -- AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
