The disappointment surrounding the news that Cardinal George Pell would not attend the Royal Commission hearings in Ballarat should not be directed at the Commission itself according to Wendouree MP Sharon Knight.
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That disappointment should be directed at Cardinal Pell.
“I don’t want to take anything away from role of the Commission and the important work that has been done,” Ms Knight said.
“I lay this fairly and squarely at the feet of George Pell, and not at the Commission
“I understand he has health conditions that cause him some discomfort.
“But I can pretty much guarantee it doesn’t compare, not even nearly, to the the pain and suffering the survivors, their families and the communities go through every day.”
Ms Knight was adamant that survivors should be able to hear evidence in person from both Cardinal Pell and former Ballarat bishop Ronald Mulkearns who is at the heart of so many of the Catholic Church’s failures.
“The community needs that as well,” she said.
Ballarat MP Catherine King echoed this sentiment saying Cardinal Pell should understand how important his appearance in person would be to the long term healing the community needed to achieve.
“I think many people in this community really do want and expect Cardinal Pell to come back to Australia to provide evidence to the Royal Commission,” she said.
“Regardless of what that evidence is, I think it is important for Cardinal Pell to be here in the country.
“It is an important message for many of the survivors of child sexual abuse in our community that George Pell actually wants to come and tell that side of the story and he should do that in person,” she said.
“We have got a lot of healing that needs to be done in this community.
“Making sure that testimony is heard and that people have the opportunity to see that and see him making that testimony in country is really part of that healing and I think Cardinal Pell should understand that.”
