Cardinal George Pell presided over decades of horrific abuse of Australian children by his clergy; now the active, vigorous crime-boss says he’s too weak to return to Australia from the Vatican to attend a commission on the crimes, meaning that he won’t have to confront the survivors of the abuse he abetted.
A Gofundme campaign has raised over AUD200,000 to send the survivors to Rome, thanks in part to a scathing song by Tim Minchin, creator of the (brilliant) musical version of Roald Dahl’s Matilda and author of the (likewise brilliant) book/poem/rant Storm.
Many very serious questions remain about George Pell’s conduct as a leader of an institution that failed to curb decades of rampant child sexual abuse within its hallowed walls. This failure has resulted in hundreds of innocent people suffering lifelong emotional and physical damage. A shocking number have committed suicide.
Whilst his actions and appearance suggest a man in good health, Pell asserts that he is too ill to travel to Australia to answer these questions at the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse.
And so today, thanks to the generosity of the Australian public, fifteen Ballarat Survivors will fly to Rome. They would not have been able to afford to do so without you.
Send Ballarat Survivors To Rome [Go Fund Me]
Tim Minchin’s new message for Cardinal George Pell: wash the feet of survivors.
[The West Australian]