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'It's the pope's loss': Ballarat sex abuse survivors speak after return from Rome 'It's the pope's loss': Ballarat sex abuse survivors speak after return from Rome
(35 minutes later)
Child sexual abuse survivors from Ballarat who flew to Rome to watch Cardinal George Pell give evidence say it’s the pope’s loss he didn’t meet with them at the Vatican.Child sexual abuse survivors from Ballarat who flew to Rome to watch Cardinal George Pell give evidence say it’s the pope’s loss he didn’t meet with them at the Vatican.
Related: George Pell tells Andrew Bolt he won't resign from Vatican positionRelated: George Pell tells Andrew Bolt he won't resign from Vatican position
The group of survivors arrived back in Melbourne on Sunday morning after a crowdfunding campaign made it possible for them to fly to Rome to witness Pell give evidence at the royal commission into institutional child sexual abuse.The group of survivors arrived back in Melbourne on Sunday morning after a crowdfunding campaign made it possible for them to fly to Rome to witness Pell give evidence at the royal commission into institutional child sexual abuse.
“It’s been a whirlwind trip, nothing like we expected,” David Ridsdale told reporters at Melbourne airport. Speaking at Melbourne airport, the group called on Australia’s prime minister to commit to a national redress scheme for abuse victims.
Ridsdale – who was abused by his uncle and Australia’s worst pedophile priest, Gerard Ridsdale – says the group is disappointed it did not get a chance to meet with Pope Francis. “A lot of people might think this is the end of our journey. It’s not,” abuse survivor Andrew Collins told reporters.
The Vatican said it did not receive a request for a meeting, even though the group followed Vatican protocol and faxed the application. He said clerical abuse in Ballarat – including that by Australia’s worst pedophile priest, Gerard Ridsdale – and its long-term effects on victims highlighted the importance of supporting survivors.
“The whole nonsense with the pope ... the simple fact is it’s the pope’s loss,” Ridsdale said. “He misses out. It’s not our loss.” “We call on the Turnbull government to put into place the redress scheme that the royal commission has put forward,” Collins said. “The longer he holds off, the more people will die.”
Ridsdale says the survivors do not believe the “Vatican spin” that was in Pell’s evidence, and have criticised the Catholic church’s response to the cardinal’s evidence. David Ridsdale – who was abused by his uncle and Australia’s worst pedophile priest, Gerard Ridsdale – said the group was disappointed it did not get a chance to meet with Pope Francis.
“It’s the pope’s loss,” he said, after the Vatican stated it never received the group’s request for a meeting.
Following Pell’s testimony, the Vatican said the “sensationalist” media coverage of the hearing gave the impression the Catholic church had done little or nothing to address the issue of clergy sex abuse, when that was not the case.
The Catholic church also praised Pell for his “dignified and coherent” personal testimony, and the willingness of survivors to engage with the Vatican.
Ridsdale said none of the survivors were satisfied with Pell’s evidence or the Catholic church’s response to it.
“You’ve got to be a delusional human being to even imagine that’s the truth,” he said. “A very small step was made, but none of us felt that the evidence he gave was representative of the man we met in the room.”“You’ve got to be a delusional human being to even imagine that’s the truth,” he said. “A very small step was made, but none of us felt that the evidence he gave was representative of the man we met in the room.”
The survivors say Pell has been listening to them in private meetings, yet appears to be dismissive of them in public. The survivors say Pell had been listening to them in private meetings, yet appears to be dismissive of them in public.
Related: David Marr on George Pell: He is not a man to put abused children above the church – podcast
“The person up on the stand was the bureaucrat, he was the corporate man,” Ridsdale said. “None of us were satisfied with his evidence. Not in the slightest.”“The person up on the stand was the bureaucrat, he was the corporate man,” Ridsdale said. “None of us were satisfied with his evidence. Not in the slightest.”
Survivor Phil Nagle says their trip to Italy may be over, but their journey towards redress for victims and preventing abuse continues. Related: David Marr on George Pell: He is not a man to put abused children above the church – podcast
“We wanted to hear honesty and truth, instead we heard lies and deceit,” he said in a statement he read on behalf of the group. “It was not about Cardinal Pell at all, it was about children and the abuse they suffered.” A meeting in Rome between Pell and abuse survivors after the hearing ended with Australia’s highest ranking Catholic churchman promising to work with the Ballarat community to set up a centre to support victims.
The group says there are too many bureaucrats and officials in religious and government institutions who don’t want to take responsibility for any abuse that may have happened under their watch. In September, the commission recommended a national redress scheme, estimated to cost $4.3bn over 10 years and underwritten by the federal government.
The scheme would be largely funded by the institutions in which the abuse occurred, but should be run by an independent board under the auspices of the federal government to ensure equity for all survivors, it said.
Labor has pledged its support for a national redress scheme.
The federal government has said it will work with states and territories to develop a nationally consistent redress scheme, with the main responsibility residing with the jurisdiction where the offence took place, not the commonwealth.