In some ways, rightly or wrongly, he has come to embody the things seen as wrong with the Catholic Church. His elevated position, his obdurate nature, his unwavering conservatism have made him the lightning rod for the anger and frustration so many have felt with the behaviour of the church. Nowhere is this more acute than in appalling handling by the the Catholic Church of child sexual abuse by clergy. But the charges laid by Victoria police yesterday are something very different.

Important as it is for the alleged victims to have their stories heard and justice pursued, so too must Cardinal Pell be judged on these matters alone and not on any residual antipathy for a whole institution’s failings.

To this end of even-handed justice, yesterday’s step is important in offering relief to all those victims who feared he was outside the law but also to the Cardinal himself who wants to clear his name and promises to return promptly to help this happen. 

Despite the emotion his case attracts, the Cardinal’s case should be heard unhindered and uninfluenced. 

It is also worth remembering what the local story is in all this. It is a long-running story quite separate from these allegations against the Cardinal, a story repeated too often where due process has been completed, punishment or reprieve handed down, but where there is a common legacy of innocent Ballarat lives lost or ruined. 

The victims of these other cases will go on living with their burden whether the Cardinal is found guilty or innocent. They are the ones who must still be heard and looked to. One more priest in jail won’t heal those terrible wounds or begin the arduous work needed to appease the ripple like damage of generational abuse and lingering mental destruction.  No community understands this better than Ballarat. 

Moreover The Courier has continually warned that finding individual scapegoats for a massive institutional failure is a dangerous distraction from the heart of the problem. The problem of child sexual abuse was and is much bigger than one man, indeed even one institution.

So we say again, we owe it to the victims and to all future generations not to lose sight of a greater goal in Ballarat; the work of healing and future prevention. 

This must be the priority and the justice system can run its course.