Speaking of Pell ...
Church knew Pell was at centre of decades-old lurid sex claims
The claims were lurid and unverified so Helen Last, the counsellor hired by the Catholic Church in Melbourne to assist victims of clerical abuse, agonised before reporting them to her superiors.
It was 1996 and the newly appointed archbishop, George Pell, had just set up the Melbourne Response to handle the rising numbers of sex abuse claims received by the archdiocese.
An ex-seminarian known as ‘‘Joe’’ came forward alleging that Pell and several other priests had, 10 to 15 years earlier, been having sex with Mannix College trainee clerics at ‘‘parties … involving young men’’.
Joe was not a strong witness. He wanted $20,000 for compromising photographs which appeared to be of Pell and others engaged in sexual acts but could not produce the negatives. Despite this, Ms Last felt she could not dismiss Joe's allegations.
She reported the claims to her superior and also to the vicar-general, Monsignor Gerald Cudmore (who died in 2007).
‘‘He was shocked, and said ‘we have to do something’,’’ she said.
Ms Last says she developed suspicions about Pell very early during her work with the Archdiocese of Melbourne.
She heard many stories from victims of clergy sexual abuse in different parishes, especially that Pell knew what was happening and was protecting priests who were abusing children.
‘‘It was alleged to me early that Pell was among a group of offenders from Ballarat to Melbourne. They were part of the Ballarat organised clerical offending, which extended down to Laverton and around Melbourne.’’
While the credibility of the claims made by ‘‘Joe’’ was never substantiated, a detailed memo of the ex-seminarian’s allegations, seen by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, demonstrates that the church was aware of complaints about Pell’s character dating back more than 20 years.
In the light of Pell’s conviction for sexual abuse of two choirboys in 1996, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald believe there is public interest in revealing the trail of complaints that have dogged the cardinal’s career.
If the ex-seminarian’s claims are included, there are nine known allegations about sexual misconduct against Pell, ranging from exposure to assault, although only two – his sexual abuse of the choirboys – have been upheld by a court.
Rumours have surrounded the cardinal, especially among survivors of abuse and their advocates, for many years. Some of the allegations might seem preposterous at first but the same argument was made by some about the choirboy's claim that he and another boy were assaulted more than 20 years ago. This makes the other allegations more relevant.
Ms Last’s contract was terminated in May 1997 as a result, she claims, of her defying explicit instructions from archbishop Pell and then vicar-general Denis Hart to stay away from the Doveton parish, which suffered six paedophiles in succession as parish priest or assistant priest.
One Doveton priest was the deranged Peter Searson, who wandered the Catholic school in military clothing, sometimes carried a gun, stabbed a bird with a screwdriver and tortured a cat. He was also molesting many children.
A teacher at the time, Carmel Rafferty – whose attempts at whistle-blowing ended her career in Catholic education – said a delegation went to Pell, Searson’s bishop, to share their concerns, but these were dismissed. Pell told the royal commission that this was because he was deceived by archbishop Frank Little and the education office.
After she was sacked and the pastoral response office closed, Ms Last set up In Good Faith and Associates to support survivors. She also set up the Melbourne Victims’ Collective, which has 120 members who complain they were traumatised by the Melbourne Response.
‘‘I believe Pell set up the Melbourne Response partly to protect himself. I believed that from the beginning ... He had no understanding of victim care,’’ she says.
Ms Last believes the Melbourne Response files should be subpoenaed and the decision in each case examined.
In 2015 she submitted her correspondence with the church over the Joe memo to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
It is believed that ‘‘Joe’’ has not pursued the matter. The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have been unable to contact him.
The new Archbishop of Melbourne, Peter A. Comensoli, says he does not know of any other historic accusations from Pell’s time in Melbourne, apart from those that had already been before the court.
‘‘No. Only the Ballarat one and the trial’s not going ahead. There’s nothing in his files, and our files stop with when he finished up here.’’
However, correspondence seen by this masthead shows that the independent commissioner, Peter O’Callaghan, QC, investigated the seminary allegations, asking Ms Last to send him ‘‘the remainder of your files … as quickly as possible.’’
Approached last week, Mr O’Callaghan said that because the matter of Pell remains before the courts, ‘‘I must not and will not make any comments on the matters you raised.’’
Pell, who is to be sentenced next week, maintains his innocence of all claims and will appeal his conviction of sexually assaulting the two choirboys at a hearing set down for June 5 and 6.
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