Ballarat abuse survivors reflect on Cardinal George Pell's death

Victims of clergy abuse say the death of Cardinal George Pell has brought forward a swell of different emotions.

The controversial figure, who was born in Ballarat and rose to the top of Australian Catholicism, had a life marred by controversy - of which Ballarat was the nexus.

For church sexual abuse survivor Stephen Woods, Pell's actions were a tragedy, representing a lost opportunity to help repair the damage done to a generation of survivors.

"It is not good to speak ill of the dead, so I won't. But George Pell, after spending a lifetime investing all of his efforts - considerable efforts - into the Catholic Church, he allowed it to be destroyed by covering up for child sex abuse crimes," Mr Woods said.

"That is tragic."

As a young man, Mr Woods had been sexually abused by Christian brothers Robert Best and Edward Dowlan.

The priest he confided in - Father Gerald Ridsdale - asked him to recount his story in graphic detail before taking him to a Lake Wendouree toilet block and raping him.

Mr Woods has spent a life trying to get some form of justice from the Catholic Church.

Justice, he said, was not forthcoming despite promises from the Cardinal on the steps of a Roman hotel to make Ballarat a "leading healing centre for victims" of clergy abuse.

Years on from those promises, Mr Woods said the supports were non-existent, and the church had doubled-down on litigation.

"He is somebody who will go down in history as an example of what not to do. You don't cover up crimes, you expose them," Mr Woods said.

"George Pell tragically chose to side with covering up, protecting the church's assets and making sure that his legacy was intact. He failed in all three points.

"It was a total lost opportunity. His abilities were considerable. His talents, skills and power were almost unmatched.

"Unfortunately, we have to look forward to more legal action to get some sort of justice from an organisation that has time and time again proved itself to be non-aligned with helping the victims.

"An organisation that helps victims would be going out of its way to make sure that victims and their families are looked after, this is what the church is not doing."

Some financial attempts at compensation have been made for victims from the church, such as when Ballarat's Catholic Diocese donated $300,000 to the Centre Against Sexual Assault, to help the service work with abuse survivors across the city.

Ballarat survivor Philip Nagle has too spent a life speaking on behalf of clergy sexual abuse victims and trying to get justice from the church.

He was one of 33 in a class of St Alipius Christian Brother Primary School pupils, 12 of who have taken their own lives or died prematurely.

"If the Catholic belief system of heaven and hell is correct, then he is certainly burning in hell as we speak right now," Mr Nagle said.

"We have a leader, a group of leaders, who were covering up for their paedophile employees and priests. Good riddance to him."

Mr Nagle was assaulted when he was a nine-year-old student at a St Alipius Christian Brothers Primary School and received $26,000 in compensation from the Catholic church.

He was also one of the Ballarat church sexual abuse victims to travel to Rome and hear Cardinal Pell give evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

In 2020, an unredacted report from the Royal Commission showed Cardinal Pell did have knowledge of rampant abuse in Ballarat and elsewhere.

Mr Nagle said he was disappointed hearing the evidence Cardinal Pell had given from Rome in 2016.

"Rome was very interesting, because he had selective memory loss. He remembered things very vividly about protecting the brand and standing up for the church, yet he was very selective about forgetting things that were important for the royal commission - that is the role he played in moving these paedophile employees and priests around," Mr Nagle said.

Another witness to Pell's promises was Paul Levey, a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of Gerard Ridsdale at the Mortlake presbytery.

When Cardinal Pell requested a private meeting with survivors of clergy abuse who had flown to Rome for the Royal Commission in 2016, Mr Levey was one of a handful who refused to attend.

Mr Levey said Pell had made promises at that meeting he never kept.

He said Pell had promised he would work with survivors, particularly those in the Ballarat diocese, to help with the healing process.

"We all want to try to make things better, actually and on the ground," Pell said in a statement that he read to journalists.

Pell said he also supported the creation of a research centre in Ballarat that would "enhance healing and improve protection".

"I know of the goodness of so many people in Catholic Ballarat, a goodness not extinguished by the evil that was done," Pell said in Rome in 2016.

However, Pell never kept those promises, according to Mr Levey.

"Many years down the track, he hasn't kept those promises," he said.

Mr Levey said he didn't shed a tear when he heard of Pell's passing.

While Pell's death may have been a moment of consolation for some, for others it represented yet another door to accountability for church hierarchy being closed.

Dr Judy Courtin, a civil lawyer who worked extensively with Ballarat victims of church abuse and advised the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse said Pell's death had been triggering to many of her current and former clients.

"It is a real trigger for a lot of victims and survivors, and I think this is important, their families. I think the intergenerational trauma here is so marked," Dr Courtin said.

Beyond her case work on behalf of victims, Dr Courtin has also completed a PhD into sexual assault and the Catholic Church and whether victims were finding justice.

In a message that echoed Mr Woods' opinion, Dr Courtin said victims were often facing a wall of litigation, which she said began with Pell.

"It is so, so difficult with our laws, both civil and criminal, for families to get proper justice and accountability. I think Pell now dying is a real trigger for that lack of proper accountability and justice across the board," she said.

"I am not just talking about people who were allegedly assaulted by Pell. I am talking about him being a senior cleric, the most senior in Australia.

"Not only did they try and crush children when they tried to make complaints and report the crimes - the church continues to try and crush them today. The legal defences are hideous, and they just drag them out. The trauma continues."

One issue, Dr Courtin said, was getting the charge of concealment to stick to members of the church in the criminal court.

"There has been no accountability for what is now potentially a crime of concealment and cover-up. It is a difficult day as well for victims, survivors and their families. It highlights how it is an almost impossible task for people to proper accountability and justice," Dr Courtin said.

"We do not have one conviction in the whole country for the crime of concealment. There was one, Archbishop (Philip) Wilson of Adelaide, from when he was in Sydney, but that was overturned on appeal.

"I think with this old guard starting to die off, their feelings are 'where are we going to get that justice from? Are we going to get that accountability?'.

"The hierarchy is where all of these child sex crimes were enabled."

Another issue was the speed of cases and the way charges were pressed towards alleged abusers in court.

"For the crime of concealment, historically you had to prove certain things - one is that a serious crime had been committed and that it had been concealed and covered up. It sounds easy, but historically you would also have to prove that there was some benefit for the person who covered it up," Dr Courtin said.

"For historical, criminal matters, you have to use the laws at the time, and the laws were just inadequate at the time. For civil matters the laws are retrospective. It is easier to get some justice in the civil system, much easier than the criminal."

In researching her PhD, Dr Courtin said victims, survivors and families she had spoken to often wanted consequences for the institutional hierarchy, rather than the individual abuser.

The question was then if Pell's death spelled the end of accountability for an old guard of church leaders who had many questions raised of them.

"I think it could well be a twisting of the knife that is already in victims. It is triggering the PTSD. He is dead now, and a lot of people saying that is terrific, but I think the important thing is for a lot of people that is the end of any potential sort of accountability," Dr Courtin said.

"At least now people can lodge claims. They are still limited, we are really hamstrung by the law - albeit we have new laws. But people do not get proper justice in our legal system - be it civil or criminal - I don't believe."

City of Ballarat councillor and former social worker at the Centre Against Sexual Assault in Ballarat, Belinda Coates, travelled to Rome alongside the contingent of victims and survivors of clergy abuse in 2016.

She said today would be triggering for victims and survivors, and implored people to consider the impact the news of Pell's death would have on those impacted by the institutional abuse.

"Reach out to people and check in with them. Make sure they are aware of all of the supports that are available. There are 24-hour support lines available through Ballarat Centre Against Sexual Assault, also through 24-hour phone services like LifeLine and BeyondBlue," Cr Coates said.

"Check in with people, reach out if you think that they may be struggling and really just let them know that you care and there is always support available for people."

Cr Coates is part of a project, Continuous Voices, looking to continue the discussion around the continuing and intergenerational trauma, and build a permanent memorial for victims and survivors in Ballarat's Victoria Park.

A memorial, which when installed could be a first for Australia, and possibly the world.

"What has come to the fore in recent years is the profound impact of sexual abuse and trauma on people. For many that is an ongoing journey, and hence the name of the project, Continuous Voices. It is about being an ongoing discussion and advocacy raising mission," Cr Coates said.

Continuous Voice founder Blake Curran, who began a GoFundMe campaign for the memorial, said the group was looking to reconvene in 2023.

Mr Curran is the son of Peter Curran, a Ballarat man who was abused as a child by priests and later took his own life.

He hoped those who looked at the future memorial, or reflected on clerical abuse, would take a decidedly positive focus.

"For anyone else, to be kind to one another and say no one knows anyone's personal history - it could be sexual abuse, it could be spousal abuse, it could be anything. So that is where, hopefully, this could spark those community connections," Mr Curran said.

"It is about kindness. Thinking for survivors and victims who visit the memorial, kindness for themselves. Be kind to themselves and practice self-care strategies."

Affected by this story? There is help available.

You can phone the Ballarat Centre Against Sexual Assault, in Sebastopol, on 5320 3933, or free-call the crisis care line 24 hours on 1800 806 292.

Or phone Lifeline on 13 11 14, the Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380, or Relationships Australia on 1300 364 277.

- with MONIQUE PATTERSON

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