Pell asked how he could not have known abt predator priest

(ANSA) - Rome, March 1 - 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.