“Pell wasn’t a priest for the survivors, he was the priest to save the Catholic Church money.' Hundreds of kilometres away from St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, supporters of child abuse survivors embraced each other in a Melbourne street. Photo: Joe Armao
As the late Cardinal George Pell was laid to rest in Sydney, child sex abuse advocate Chrissie Foster struggled to reconcile the eulogies with her memories of the man she once asked for help.
“They obviously have not been to one royal commission session or read one of their reports on George Pell. Go to the funeral, yes, but don’t say those things. It’s just so not true.” Pell was the bishop supervising the parish at the time and addressed the parents at the Sacred Heart Primary School hall when the allegations of serial child abuse against O’Donnell became public.Barney Wursthorn, whose daughters attended school with the Foster girls, remembered Pell sitting on the stage of the school hall as he addressed concerned parents about the allegations against O’Donnell. He said the clergyman was in damage control.
Former Oakleigh MP Ann Barker, who was among the first to campaign for a national inquiry into the abuse of children by the clergy, said the day of Pell’s funeral was about remembering the survivors of abuse. The Fosters were offered $50,000 by the archdiocese under its Melbourne Response redress scheme as compensation for the abuse, but the family rejected the offer, taking the church to court instead. They settled before judgment for $450,000 for Emma plus compensation for Katie and costs.
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