Head of Australia's Catholic Church Refuses to Resign Over Cover-Up Claims
By Emma Tinkler Associated Press Writer
Published: Jun 3, 2002

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - The head of Australia's Roman Catholic Church rejected resignation calls from child-abuse victim advocates Monday, denying assertions that his compensation offers amounted to efforts to buy the silence of people who said they were sexually abused by priests.

Sydney Archbishop George Pell admitted on a current affairs program Sunday night that he offered a family $28,000 in exchange for a promise not to sue over claims that their two daughters were sexually abused for six years by a local priest beginning in 1987, when the younger girl was 5 years old.

Pell made the admission after an interviewer on the Nine television network's "60 Minutes" program confronted him with a 1998 letter from lawyers acting on his behalf when he was Archbishop of Melbourne. On Monday, Pell distributed copies of the letter to the media and pointed out that there was "no reference to any requirement of secrecy."

"The allegations that I attempted to silence anyone are totally unfounded and untrue," Pell told reporters. "To suggest this is 'hush money' is absurd ... no confidentiality applies," he said, adding that he had been "ambushed" by the interviewer and that was the reason for his confused answers.

Pell said he had followed the Church's rules for dealing with child abuse. He said that if victims refused the Church's offer of compensation and took legal action they were asked to keep compensation discussions confidential so that it would not prejudice the court action.

Asked whether the Church could have shown more compassion to the victims, he replied, "I think you could say that, yes. But it is a wretched business and it is almost impossible to please everyone."

Pell's statements came amid a crisis that has shaken the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, with revelations that priests across the country sexually abused children and that senior clergy concealed incidents and moved known offenders to other parishes.

Pell said that while some 90 priests and Roman Catholic church employees in Australia have been convicted of sex-abuse offenses over the last 10 years, he did not consider the situation to be as dire as in the United States.

"I'm hoping that the worst is behind us," he said.

AP-ES-06-03-02 0603EDT