Brennan, speaking on ABC 774 in Melbourne on Monday, said Pell had “clearly already lost” in the court of public opinion but that the leaks presented “major problems” for the commission itself, which was established in 2013 to investigate institutional responses to child sexual abuse by a number of bodies, including the Catholic church and police.
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Cardinal George Pell was in good spirits today as he repeated his insistence that he would “of course cooperate” with Victoria Police’s investigation into allegations that he sexually abused between five and ten boys.
But he said he did not believe there was a need for an inquiry, warning it could potentially detract from existing abuse investigations.
“The article published by the Herald Sun leads to the conclusion that this information must have come from Victoria Police or another agency working with it”, the statement from Cardinal Pell’s office said.
Asked whether he would ever return home, Cardinal Pell responded: “I don’t know”. According to the newspaper, Task Force Sanso has been investigating the claims for up to a year.
The Sun Herald newspaper reported late Friday that Cardinal George Pell was being investigated by Australian police over allegations of abuse while he was serving in senior positions within the Catholic Church in Australia.
The Church has been quick to come to his defence, with Melbourne’s Archbishop Hart describing the timing of the leak as being “designed to do maximum damage”, ahead of the Cardinal’s scheduled date for giving evidence to the Royal Commission by video link on February 29.
Mr Pallas said today Cardinal Pell should be “afforded at least a presumption of innocence in the context of these matters”.
At least 15 victims and supporters will head to Rome to hear the evidence in person after a crowd funding campaign raised more than £100,000.
He is the subject of a year-long investigation by Victoria Police for the alleged sexual abuse of up to ten minors from 1978 to 2001.
“There will be some in the community who will say that the integrity of the royal commission’s processes would be better enhanced if leaks of this sort did not occur”, Brennan said.
The statement refers to evidence given to the commission that police superiors in the 1950s through 1970s intentionally refused to take action against or charge clerics suspected of abuse.
The Cardinal has denied the claims and none of the allegations have been proven or confirmed by Victoria Police.
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The statement called it “outrageous” that people within the police publicly attacked him through the leaks when he is “a witness in the same case study that has exposed serious police inaction and wrongdoing”.
