De rechters rechterhand leeft
Van hetgeen de rechter doet
Alan Stokes
Columnist
In one short burst of testimony, Cardinal Pell's own words lost him so much credibility as to make it impossible for objective, understanding people to empathise with him.
"There is a saying in the church … that those who know don't say, and those who say don't know."
Cardinal George Pell's words. Not mine.
Here are mine: Loose lips sink ships. Don't ask, don't tell. Ignorance is bliss. What you don't know won't hurt you.
If Pell did know in the 1970s and '80s about the paedophilia of disgraced priest Gerald Ridsdale and was complicit in exposing him to more children, the cardinal was not saying so on Tuesday.
But in 90 minutes of testimony from hell, Pell's own words betrayed him.
Pope Francis and others must surely now recognise the damage Pell's presence is doing to the church along with those millions who trust it and accept all the other good work it does.
Almost 40 years ago Pell was a consultor to the then bishop of Ballarat, Ronald Mulkearns, who made the final decisions on shifting the paedophile Ridsdale around.
"Consultors had an obligation to be as well informed as could reasonably be expected. I'll leave it at that."
Pell's words, not mine.
Did consultors have an obligation to keep ears and eyes out to properly advise the bishop?
"Correct."
Pell's answer, not mine.
"It's a sad story and it wasn't of much interest to me. The suffering of course was real. And I very much regret that. I had no reason to turn my mind to the evils that Ridsdale had perpetrated."
Pell again, not me.
The counsel assisting, Gail Furness, asked Pell: Who is responsible for the children?
"Everybody has some sort of general responsibility ... Every member of the church has a responsibility to do what they can to protect children."
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