The head of the Vatican's
Secretariat for the Economy, Australian archbishop George Pell,
testified for the second time late Monday to the Australian
commission investigating sex abuse of minors and was asked how
he could not have known about a predator priest who once worked
beside him.
Speaking via video link from a Roman hotel, Pell said
that he had no idea that priest Gerald Ridsdale was repeatedly
transferred by the bishop in the town of Ballarat for more than
a decade because of pedophile accusations.
The commission is investigating cases of abuse that
occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, when Pell was a priest in the
Ballarat diocese where abuse occurred.
Pell himself is not under investigation and has denied
knowing about the abuse.
Pell, who advised Bishop Ronald Mulkearns about the
placement of priests within the diocese, rejected an accusation
made by the lead counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness,
that his answers were designed to remove his own responsibility
for Ridsdale's crimes.
"My answers were designed to answer your questions
accurately and completely," Pell told the Sydney inquiry via
videolink from a Rome hotel.
Asked if he accepted any responsibility of Ridsdale's
repeated transfers within the Ballarat diocese, Pell replied:
"No, I don't."
Pell will testify for a third four-hour session late on
Tuesday Rome time.
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