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 WASHINGTON-Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York called on everyone "concerned about the tragedy of abortion" to recommit to a "vision of life and love, a vision that excludes no one" on January 14. His statement marks the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Cardinal Dolan chairs the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

"Most Americans oppose a policy allowing legal abortion for virtually any reason - though many still do not realize that this is what the Supreme Court gave us," wrote Cardinal Dolan. "Most want to protect unborn children at later stages of pregnancy, to regulate or limit the practice of abortion, and to stop the use of taxpayer dollars for the destruction of unborn children. Yet many who support important goals of the pro-life movement do not identify as 'pro-life,' a fact which should lead us to examine how we present our pro-life vision to others."

"Even as Americans remain troubled by abortion," wrote Cardinal Dolan, a powerful and well-funded lobby holds "that abortion must be celebrated as a positive good for women and society, and those who cannot in conscience provide it are to be condemned for practicing substandard medicine and waging a 'war on women'." He said this trend was seen recently when President Obama and other Democratic leaders prevented passage of the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act, "a modest measure to provide for effective enforcement" of conscience laws.

"While this is disturbing," said Cardinal Dolan, "it is also an opportunity." Pro-life Americans should reach out to "the great majority of Americans" who are "open to hearing a message of reverence for life." He added that "we who present the pro-life message must always strive to be better messengers. A cause that teaches the inexpressibly great value of each and every human being cannot show disdain or disrespect for any fellow human being." He encouraged Catholics to take part, through prayer and action, in the upcoming "9 Days for Life" campaign, January 16-24. More information on the campaign is available online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxJwfcefUiU

He also cited the Year of Mercy called by Pope Francis as a time for women and men to find healing through the Church's Project Rachel post-abortion ministry.

The full text of Cardinal Dolan's message is available online.
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Keywords: Roe v. Wade, anniversary, Pro-Life, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, 9 Days for Life, USCCB, U.S. bishops, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Year of Mercy, Project Rachel, Pope Francis
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This year’s Ash Wednesday and the Lenten ‎Season have taken on a special connotation and colour, occurring during the current Jubilee Year of Mercy.  Pope Francis marked the beginning of the Church's Lenten journey by sending out several hundred ‎religious and diocesan priests from around the world as "Missionaries of Mercy" to their local churches and communities.  ‎At the Feb. 10 Ash Wednesday Mass in Rome’s St. Peter’s Basilica, the Pope ‎officially commissioned 762 priests with the task, empowering them to forgive even the sins that are reserved for the Holy See to ‎pardon.  ‎ The original plan of the Holy Father was to have just ‎‎800 Missionaries of Mercy.  But with ‎overwhelming requests from around the world, he ended up choosing over 1,000.   Of these, 762 were specially invited to the Vatican for the official ceremony.

‎The Holy Father sent out the Missionaries of Mercy in the presence of the relics of two great apostles of ‎the sacrament of confession – Capuchin priests, Sts. Leopold Mandic and Padre Pio.  Their mortal remains had been brought to Rome on the Pope’s special request, to highlight the mercy of the Father in the sacrament of reconciliation.  

Among the ‎762‎ Missionaries of Mercy who came to the Vatican to receive the official mandate, were some 8 Indians.  We talked with one of them - Fr. S. Panneer Selvam, the director of  Suvarta Kendra in Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh, the national centre for New Evangelization of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), the association of India’s Latin rite bishops.  He had applied to the Vatican online, with ‎recommendations from bishops.  ‎Last week, in the first of a 2-part interview, Fr. Selvam, who is also the executive secretary of CCBI’s commission for proclamation,  said that the mercy is the heart of Gospel as Pope Francis points out in ‘Misericordia Vultus’ (Merciful Face), the Bull of Indiction that spells out the mission and vision of the Year of Mercy.  He said the Missionaries of Mercy are asked to help people personally experience mercy and in turn become instruments or agents of mercy.  Fr. Selvam said his Suvarta Kendra has designed a special 8-session course entitled “Merciful like the Father”, for “a deeper ‎experience of God’s mercy and to help all to be authentic witnesses of Mercy.”   Well,  today, in the final of this 2-part interview, we asked Fr. Selvam about the sacrament of confession.

Listen: 

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(Vatican Radio) Cardinal George Pell on Thursday met for nearly two hours with about a dozen victims of sexual abuse from the Australian Diocese of Ballarat at the Quirinale hotel in Rome.

Cardinal Pell has been giving testimony this week to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sexual Abuse, which looking into sexual abuse at different institutions in Australia.

The Diocese of Ballarat, located in the State of Victoria, has had several clerics and religious accused of abuse during a 30-year period from the 1960’s, and over a dozen suicides have been attributed to the abuse. Cardinal Pell was ordained for the Diocese of Ballarat in 1966.

After the meeting, Cardinal Pell called the encounter “honest and occasionally emotional,” and acknowledged “the evil that was done.”

“We all want to try to make things better actually and on the ground especially for the survivors and their families and I undertake to continue to help the group work effectively with the committees and agencies that we have here in the Church in Rome and especially the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors,” Cardinal Pell said.

He also addressed issue of those who had taken their life due to the abuse.

“One suicide is too many. And there have been many such tragic suicides,” Cardinal Pell said. “I commit myself to working with the group to try to stop this so that suicide is not seen as an option for those who are suffering.”  

The full statement read by Cardinal Pell is below

I’ve just met with about a dozen of the Ballarat survivors, support people and officials and heard each of their stories and of their sufferings. It was hard; an honest and occasionally emotional meeting. I am committed to working with these people from Ballarat and surrounding areas. I know many of their families and I know the goodness of so many people in Catholic Ballarat: a goodness which is not extinguished by the evil that was done.

We all want to try to make things better actually and on the ground especially for the survivors and their families and I undertake to continue to help the group work effectively with the committees and agencies that we have here in the Church in Rome and especially the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

One suicide is too many. And there have been many such tragic suicides. I commit myself to working with the group to try to stop this so that suicide is not seen as an option for those who are suffering. I too despite the separation of distance want to help to make Ballarat a model and a better place of healing, for healing, and for peace.

Now, I shouldn’t promise what might be impossible. We all know how hard it is to get things done. But I do want it known that I support the work to investigate the feasibility of a research center to enhance healing and to improve protection.

The church-going people of Ballarat diocese are known for their loyalty and for their charity. And I urge them to continue to cooperate with the survivors to improve the situation. I owe a lot to the people and community of Ballarat; I acknowledge that with deep gratitude. It would be marvelous if our city became well-known as an effective center and the example of practical help for all those wounded by the scourge of sexual abuse.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said on Thursday that some organisations at the service of human life “are more interested in the economic side than working for the common good." He also warned that human nature nowadays is increasingly reduced to a malleable material that can be molded to any design and said the first thing to safeguard is our own humanity. His comments came in an address to participants at the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

Participants at the Assembly are discussing the theme of virtue in the ethics of life and in his address to the gathering, Pope Francis stressed the need to welcome and care for human life in all circumstances.  At the same time, he said, we must protect our humanity from the poison of selfishness and lies and warned that when it comes to defending human life, it’s not uncommon that so-called “splendid vices” are “masquerading under the name of virtues.”  

The Pope explained that whilst there are many institutions working in the service of human life there are also many others that are more interested in the economic side than in striving for the common good. 

Departing from his prepared text and speaking off the cuff, the Pope reiterated his frequent warning against ideological colonizations, saying these insinuate themselves into the minds of humans under the form of virtues, modernity and new attitudes. However, in reality, he said, they are taking away our ideological freedom and are afraid of the reality as created by God.

When it comes to virtues, he went on,” it’s not a ‘cosmetic’ question or a beautiful facade” but instead it’s about rooting out dishonest desires from our hearts and of seeking good with sincerity.

In the field of ethnics about life, said the Pope, the norms that sanction respect for human beings, are not enough on their own to fully achieve the wellbeing of the human person. Instead, he said, it’s the virtues of those who work to promote human life that provide the ultimate guarantee that good will be truly respected.

Nowadays, Pope Francis noted, there is no lack of scientific knowledge and technical expertise that can offer support to human life in those situations where it is weak.  However, “sometimes humanity is lacking in these situations.” Doing good, the Pope stressed, “is not the correct application of ethical knowledge but instead “presupposes a real concern for the fragile human being.” In this context, he warned that “doctors and all health workers must never abandon a blending of science, technical expertise and humanity” in their work.

In conclusion, Pope Francis reminded his listeners that when it comes to defending and promoting human life, this can be done more effectively only if we are aware of and show the beauty of that life. “By displaying a genuine compassion and the other virtues, you will be precious witnesses of the mercy of the God of life," he said.  

Listen to this report by Susy Hodges: 

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(Vatican Radio)  Britain’s former Chief Rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks, has been awarded the 2016 Templeton Prize for the spiritual insights he has brought to the public arena through the media, lectures and more than two dozen books.

Listen to Philippa Hitchen's report: 

During his time as Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991 to 2013, Sacks led what many consider to be the revitalization of Britain’s Jewish community, a feat he accomplished in the face of dwindling congregations and growing secularization across Europe.  During his tenure he built up a network of organizations that introduced a Jewish focus in areas including business, women’s issues and education, urging British Jews to share the ethics of their faith with the community at large.

A statement from the Templeton Foundation said on Wednesday that central to Sacks’ message is the appreciation and respect of all faiths, stressing that recognizing the values of each is the only path to effectively combat the global rise of violence and terrorism. Rabbi Sacks welcomed Pope Benedict to an interfaith meeting at St Mary's University College in London in 2010 and was received by the German pontiff in the Vatican in December 2011.

The statement noted that Sacks also “boldly defends the compatibility of religion and science, and recognised the need for the “strengthening of ethics in the marketplace long before the financial crisis.”

The Templeton Prize, valued at over a million pounds, is given annually to an individual who has made exceptional contributions to affirming life’s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works.  Rabbi Sacks, who is married  with three children and eight grandchildren, will receive the award at a public ceremony in London on May 26th.

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(Vatican Radio) The President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace Cardinal Peter Turkson has given a message to a conference on racism taking place in the US city of Birmingham in Alabama. The event entitled "Black and White in America", runs from the 3-4 of March.

In the message the Cardinal said that, " racism excludes its victims from the basic resources they need. Among these are decent housing, a good education, jobs for those who can work, upbringing for the young and care for the elderly.” He also noted that, “suffering is found on both sides of the barriers: among those who harbour hatred in their hearts and minds, and those who must endure its impact.”

In addition the Cardinal stressed that education plays a fundamental role in combatting racism.

Listen to our report: 

Below please find Cardinal Turkson’s message in English

A Word of Encouragement

Your Grace Archbishop Anthony Obinna, Your Excellency Bishop Robert Baker, Reverend Dr. Timothy George, Your Honor Mayor William Bell, distinguished Speakers and Sponsors, dearest Brothers and Sisters of faith and hope,

In the name of Pope Francis, it is both a real joy and a profound responsibility for me to address you with warm greetings of encouragement at the beginning of this important gathering, "Black and White in America". Congratulations to those with the vision to conceive of this conference, thanks to everyone who worked hard to organize it, and welcome to each and every speaker and participant.

Almost 30 years ago, the American Catholic Bishops stated, "Racism is not merely one sin among many; it is a radical evil that divides the human family and denies the new creation of a redeemed world. To struggle against it means an equally radical transformation, in our own minds and hearts as well as in the structure of our society”.

Echoing and expanding this teaching, Pope Francis most emphatically condemns the evil of racism in the world today. "The problem of intolerance must be confronted in all its forms: wherever any minority is persecuted and marginalized because of their religious convictions or ethnic identity, the wellbeing of society as a whole is endangered, and each one of us must feel affected “.

When the Zulu people of South Africa greet someone, they say "Sawubona," which means "I see you". The one being greeted responds with "Sikhona" which means "I am here." The greeter ends by affirming "Ubuntu" which means, "We are, and so I am".

Let me contrast this remarkable form of exchange with the experience of racism. Its effect is to render people invisible, and from that follows the denial of human dignity, then loss of identity, then personal despair, then social and political distrust - it unleashes a host of ills that have penetrated into every facet of life.

Racism excludes its victims from the basic resources they need. Among these are decent housing, a good education, jobs for those who can work, upbringing for the young and care for the elderly. These barriers are not imagined - they are all too real, and the enormous injustice and suffering they cause cry out for them to be torn down and overcome. In his second inaugural address (the 15l" anniversary is tomorrow, 4 March 1865), Abraham Lincoln so eloquently bemoaned "all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil”.

The suffering is found on both sides of the barriers: among those who harbour hatred in their hearts and minds, and those who must endure its impact. And it does not dissipate quickly. You know better than I do what the legacy of slavery has meant for this country, and other countries are marked in similar tragic ways.

All peoples must restore and preserve the fundamental bonds of mutuality - brotherhood and sisterhood - that God intends for us.

The healing of racism begins in our own hearts. How our hearts would be shaped if everyone learned to greet each other in the Zulu manner! It invites us to self-examination: how often do I overlook people who differ from me and my kind? Do my biases cloud my ability to fully "see" another person in his or her full human dignity? Admitting my failure to see the other as human is to begin the struggle to vanquish unconscious bias and interpersonal racism.

In his Encyclical Deus caritas est, Pope Benedict XVI taught that: "Jesus' programme is `a heart which sees'. This heart sees where love is needed and acts accordingly”. Those who are not fully "seen" are marginalized, excluded from the circle of human concern. Love, says Pope Francis, brings them back in. “From charity we learn how to see our brothers and sisters and the world. Ubi amor, ibi oculus, say the Medievals: where there is love, there is the ability to see. Only by remaining in God's loves will we know how to understand and love those around us”.

Education plays a fundamental role. Children can readily accept differences; they can also be taught to hate. Perhaps you recall a short song from the musical South Pacific with these terrible lines:

“You've got to be taught before it's too late/ Before you are six or seven or eight/ To hate all the people your relatives hate/ You've got to be carefully taught!”

The effective dismantling of racism must begin within. The fundamental belief that each of us is created in God's image is essential. Such conversion must then extend into laws and public policies and into systems of education, healthcare, employment and housing. This inner-and-outer healing needs to begin now - to stem the rising tide of despair among the young - many of whom doubt that they will have a place in the societies of today and tomorrow. It is high time to expand opportunities for all people of colour, who for generations have been on the receiving end of such grinding racism.

"We need to strengthen the conviction that we are one single human family," Pope Francis teaches in Laudato si', and I pray that this gathering of "Black and White in America" will be a rich opportunity to do just that. Allow me to suggest some possible themes:

1) Let us further explore what our faith says about racism and, as we examine our conscience, let us pray for pardon and reconciliation.

2) Let us deepen our understanding of racism as one of the drivers of poverty and systemic violation of basic human rights within the United States and beyond our borders, too.

3) Let us work to remove the personal and systemic barriers of racism that prevent us from "seeing" the brothers and sisters whom God created equal in his image and likeness.

4) And finally, in the words of Pope Francis, "Let us combine our efforts in promoting a culture of encounter, respect, understanding and mutual forgiveness”.

With this blessing, may God abundantly bless your Conference and every effort of truth-telling, inclusion and reconciliation until racism is no more.

Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson

President

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(Vatican Radio)  More than 180 Catholic bishops and scores of priests have gathered in Bangalore, southern India, to help the Church respond to current challenges in the country. The main theme of the assembly is “The Response of the Church in India to the Present Day Challenges.”

A group of experts comprising religious and lay people will assist the prelates at the March 2-9 biennial plenary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) at St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences. The CBCI is the apex body of the Catholic Church in India. Its members comprise active and retired bishops of 170 dioceses belonging to the three ritual Churches in the country.

“The first challenge comes "from within" the church and the second refers to what "we face as a secular country,” said CBCI president Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, addressing a media conference held in Bangalore on Tuesday, adding that the assembly offers an opportunity to “deepen our faith and faith commitments.”

The cardinal, who is also the head of the Syro-Malankara Church, said the Catholic Church in India is committed to protecting the “credible secular fabric” of the country. Secularism, interreligious dialogue and cultural plurality are among some issues the assembly will address, the prelate added.

They will also discuss challenges to consecrated life, Catholics moving to Pentecostal sects, the role of laity and families in the church's mission and working towards becoming a church of the poor. He noted that the Church will continue with greater commitment its services in the areas of education, health, poverty elimination and other charity initiatives to benefit the poor.

Hard-line Hindu groups have been accused of stoking a climate of intolerance against minority religions and cultures. Without naming any political party or organization, Cardinal Cleemis said pluralism "is the culture of our nation and if it faces challenges, it is for us to stand together" to help the country successfully deal with it.

“A major thrust of the assembly”, Cardinal Cleemis said, “will be promotion of acts of mercy”. Pope Francis has declared 2016 as the Year of Mercy.

The assembly will begin March 2 morning with Mass presided over by Apostolic Nuncio to India Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio. The CBCI president will chair the opening session where the nuncio will deliver the inaugural address. Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, will be chief guest on the occasion.

CBCI vice presidents Archbishops Andrews Thazhath of Trichur and Filipe Neri Ferrao of Goa and Damn, secretary general Archbishop Albert D’Souza of Agra, deputy secretary general Monsignor Joseph Chinnayyan and Public Relations Officer Fr Gyanprakash Toppo also addressed the press conference.

They described acts of mercy as showing compassion to the poor and the downtrodden in the country. During the assembly, the bishops will be assisted by a group of 20 priests responsible for the various CBCI offices and centers, an expert team of Religious and a panel of resource persons from the laity and other religions.

Archbishop Andrew Thazhath of Trichur, the first vice president of the conference, said challenges the nation faces include poverty, sickness and illiteracy. While explaining how the church responds to national social challenges, Archbishop Thazhath said that the church takes care of "18 percent of rural education and some 30 percent" of people living with HIV in the country. The church takes "an inclusive approach" without excluding any person on the basis of their religion or caste, he said.

The conference's secretary-general, Archbishop Albert D'Souza of Agra, said the church is both a spiritual body and social organization. "We seek the wounded but reach out to them with healing in order to build a better society," Archbishop D'Souza said.

The bishops will also interact with the Conference of Religious India (CRI) and the Catholic Council of India. The highlight of the assembly will be the joint celebration of the CBCI-CRI on March 5, marking the end of the ‘Year of Consecrated Life’ proclaimed by the Pope . Religious men and women of India will join the bishops for Mass and a cultural program which will also be treated as a goodwill gesture  and that of gratitude of the CBCI to “the thousands of Religious who serve the Church in India with dedication and sacrifice”, the office bearers explained.

Cardinal Cleemis said Hindu and Muslim scholars and social experts will address the meeting "and it will help us identify challenges" and "formulate our responses." Justice Cyriac Joseph, acting chairperson of the federal National Human Rights Commission, will give the keynote address at the assembly. The other speakers include More Sadanand, Inam Dar, Guilherme Vaz, Romy Chacko, Michael Dias, Sister Shalini Mulackal and Fr Mohan Das.

The bishops will issue a final statement highlighting the main thrust of the deliberations and the future course of actions. It will help Catholics in India to study and implement the bishops’ deliberations.

(Source: UCANews, Matters India)

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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Mar 3, 2016 / 06:43 am (CNA).- A 95-year-old priest named Friar Roberto walked more than three-and-a-half miles while hearing confessions during a recent “Penitential Walk” in Brazil.

Some 30,000 people participated in the walk, which took place Feb. 28 in the northeast Brazilian Archdioceses of Fortaleza and Salvador de Bahia.

“It was one of most beautiful moments I saw today. That example of faith, love and fidelity for the things of God, which is what Friar Roberto showed us today, was a true proof of the presence of God in his heart. We've got to follow his example!” one person commented on social media, sharing pictures of the priest exercising his ministry.

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Posted by Família Católica on Sunday, February 28, 2016 The Capuchin priest was born on September 10, 1920, in the city of Maracanaú (Ceará State). He was baptized with the name Juari Magalhães de Sousa. When he was 14, he entered the Capuchin monastery. He then changed his name to Friar Roberto. He was ordained a priest in 1944 and has been a priest for 71 years.

According to Archbishop Gilson Andrade of Salvador de Bahia, one of the dioceses that participated in this initiative, the Penitential Walk “is a gesture that we all make in common as the archdiocese in this time in which the Church remembers that her journey is also marked by our sins, the sins of the faithful.”

“We pray together as a Church for others because we need to be freed from our sins with the grace of God and the prayers of our brothers and sisters. At the same time it represents a manifestation of our unity around our pastors,” the archbishop added.

More than 200,000 people walked five miles in the “Penitential Walk” of Salvador de Bahia. Many of the participants performed penitential acts such as walking barefoot and carrying small crosses.

During the walk in Fortaleza, a cross was carried to recall that Christ carried on his shoulders the weight of all humanity to redeem it.

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Rome, Italy, Mar 3, 2016 / 10:13 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Speaking to an Australian committee investigating institutional responses to child sex abuse cases, Cardinal George Pell has expressed his regret for failing to take more action against abusive priests in the 1970s and '80s.

One of the things Cardinal Pell has most lamented throughout the process is that he “should have done more” as a priest-advisor to his bishop, and as an auxiliary bishop.

He expressed regret “that I didn’t do more at that stage,” adding that “in retrospect I might have been a little more pushy” when issues came up and he didn’t seem to have all the facts.

On March 3 Cardinal Pell completed the fourth and final day of his hearing before Australia's Royal Commission, facing a six hour cross-examination by 11 legal counsels, including his own. The other counsels represented victims who had been abused by Catholic priests in both Ballarat and Melbourne in the 1970s and '80s.

He was confronted with evidence brought by the commission earlier in the hearing that as a priest in 1974, he had received information from a student at St. Patrick’s College in the Diocese of Ballarat that Br. Edward Dowlan, who taught at the school, was “misbehaving with boys.”

The cardinal said that the comment was not confided, but was “casually mentioned,” and that the student never asked him to do anything.

Although he went to the school’s chaplain about the incident shortly after, Cardinal Pell never followed up, since the chaplain told him the issue was being looked into and “I believed him.”

Cardinal Pell maintained that had “no idea” abuse was being covered up the way it was at the school, and that the accusation he could have stopped hundreds of other abuses had he been more vocal was a “vast overstatement” given the “meager evidence” he received, and which he never withheld.

However, “with the experience of 40 years later,” and after learning that Br. Dowlan’s transfer later that year was made to cover up his abuse, Cartinal Pell said he couldn’t dispute his own “comparative inaction,” and confessed that “certainly I would agree that I should have done more.”

He said the consciousness of his own personal responsibility and obligations in such situations grew as he continued through his priesthood, becoming an adviser to the Ballarat bishop, then later as both auxiliary bishop and Archbishop of Melbourne.

Cardinal Pell is now prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, which oversees Vatican finances, and is a member of the Council of Cardinals advising Pope Francis on reform of the Roman Curia.

March 3 marked his final appearance before Australia's Royal Commission regarding claims accusing the cardinal of moving “known pedophile” Gerald Ridsdale; of bribing David Ridsdale, a victim and nephew of the later-defrocked priest; and of ignoring a victim's complaints.

Established in 2013, the commission is dedicated to investigating institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

Despite having testified before the commission twice before on the same charges, Cardinal Pell offered to testify again and was summoned to return to Australia for deposition in December. However, the cardinal’s doctor advised against the long flight due to health issues.

As a result, Cardinal Pell volunteered to appear by way of video conference from Rome, which took place Feb. 28 – March 3.

A group of 15 abuse survivors and their family members traveled from Australia to Rome in order to be present for the hearing.

The hearing largely focused on Cardinal Pell’s time as a priest in Ballarat and how the Melbourne archdiocese responded to abuse accusations, including during the time that the cardinal served as its auxiliary bishop.

Cardinal Pell was ordained a prest of the Diocese of Ballarat in 1966, later serving as a consulter to Bishop Ronald Mulkearns, who oversaw the diocese from 1971-1997. He was appointed auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Melbourne in 1987, and was named its archbishop in 1996.

Cases touched on throughout the four-day hearing were those of Gerald Ridsdale; Fr. Paul David Ryan, who in 2006 was imprisoned for three charges of indecent assault; Fr. Bill Baker; Fr. Peter Searson; and on numerous accusations against members of the Christian Brothers who were teaching in Catholic schools at the time, including Br. Dowlan and Br. Leo Fitzgerald.

Pell began the hearing by stressing, “I'm not here to defend the indefensible,” and acknowledging that the Church “has made enormous mistakes and is working to remedy those.”

He stressed throughout the hearing that in each case he had acted in accordance with the expectations that came with his responsibilities, and that abuse cases in both Ballarat and Melbourne had been hidden from him by his superiors.

On the second day he maintained that though he had been an adviser to Bishop Mulkearns in the 1970s and was aware that Gerald Ridsdale had changed parishes more than was usual, the bishop had not told him the moves were made due to allegations of pedophilia.

Pell said the situation was similar as auxiliary bishop in Melbourne, and that while accusations of pedophilia had been made against Fr. Searson to the Catholic Education office in the diocese, neither the office nor Archbishop Little told him the allegations were of that nature when he was briefed.

“In both cases for some reason, they were covering up,” the cardinal said March 2, explaining that he was under the impression the accusations were related to other topics.

“People did not want the status quo to be disturbed,” he said, suggesting that one reason he was kept in the dark could be “because they would have feared that I would not accept the status quo.”

Cardinal Pell said he was “not cut from the same cloth,” and that as a bishop who was known for being outspoken, he would have gone against the expectation to cover up at the time.

With hindsight, he expressed regret “that I didn’t do more at that stage,” adding that “in retrospect I might have been a little more pushy” when issues came up and he didn’t seem to have all the facts.
    
On the last day of the hearing Cardinal Pell denied accusations that he had attempted to bribe David Ridsdale to stay quiet.

Ridsdale has alleged that when he phoned Pell, then auxiliary bishop of Melbourne, for help in 1993, Pell attempted to bribe him not to go to the police.

Cardinal Pell insisted that compensation never came up in the conversation but that David had confided that he had been abused by his uncle and wanted help from the Church.

He maintained that David asked for a “quiet process” within the Church, due to the stress a public investigation would place on his grandmother when she found out about her son Gerald Ridsdale’s crimes.

The cardinal said he was “eager to help” David in any way he needed and that the topic of financial difficulties arose, but wasn't discussed at length.

Cardinal Pell also said that after that initial phone call, David never called back. He said he made a few calls to David’s house to check on how he was doing, but that the youth never responded.

Cardinal Pell’s own lawyer spoke last, pointing out that when he was an auxiliary bishop in Melbourne, he pushed for the resignation of Fr. Peter Searson, about whom the archdiocese had received numerous complaints of abuse and violent behavior.  

Cardinal Pell approached Searson with an official letter requesting his resignation, the lawyer said. Searson fought the request in a case that went all the way to Rome. Although Rome initially ruled in favor of Searson, Cardinal Pell said, “I just ignored the Roman decision, and Rome didn't push the point.”

He voiced his sorrow for the effect of clerical abuse on victims and their families, many of whom now have difficulty setting foot in either a Church or confessional.

“One of the things I regret as a Catholic priest is the damage that these crimes do to the faith of survivors, of the victims, and their friends and family, and generally throughout the society,” he said.

Before the hearing began, Cardinal Pell expressed his willingness to meet with the abuse survivors who traveled from Australia to be present at the hearing.

He met with them collectively on March 3 after the hearing had concluded, and drafted a joint statement with them condemning clerical abuse and promising to continue assisting the recovery process of victims in both Ballarat and Melbourne.

The survivors also requested a meeting with Pope Francis, though there has been no confirmation of a time.

Cardinal Pell met with the Pope on Monday, and arranged for him to receive a summary of the contents of each day’s hearing sessions. He is the highest ranking Vatican official to have testified before a legal body on clerical sex abuse.

Although the Royal Commission can’t bring any charges against the cardinal, they may give their opinion when presenting their findings to judicial bodies.

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