Now Cardinal McCarrick - the former head of Washington's catholic church - has been told to cease all his duties.

The Pope took the decision after new facts came to light regarding McCarrick's alleged sexual activities with minors in the past.

Allegations are coming from all over - even Chile - where Barros, the lead cleric, has been fired for seemingly condoning similar practices amongst his priests.

Then there was Cardinal Law - outed by the Boston Globe - but given a senior Vatican post, for years.

Soon, Cardinal Pell in Australia will be asked some intimate questions.

Dozens of countries have now had the Vatican lying to cover up scandals - on every continent.

Many direct questions will be put to the Pope in Ireland - on his August visit there.

Will he come clean - after the church denied everything there, for years - and can this flawed organisation even survive?

One likely outcome is a break-up/decentralisation - as one octogenarian in charge is clearly not enough.

It continues.

Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson has been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for covering up child abuse by priests.

However, the Vatican is allowing him to continue working!

Cardinal Pell's case coming soon, as well as many more - in numerous countries.

Barney is balmy.

there are over 1 billion Catholics in the world. None of these scandals have decreased the number of worshippers. In fact if anything it re-enforces the work of the those nuns & priests who do good seeing the miscreants are a few even though they receive maximum publicity.

And mentioning Pell in this mob demonstartes a biased mind.
Seeing the Magistrate- no pal of Pell's barrister who she fought with- threw out the most serious charges, I expect Pell to be exonerated.

A good example of the sheer hatred and nastiness of those who hate the Church and pick on Pell as a "whipping boy" is the number of alleged proper journalists who have been so snarky about Pell..firstly castigating him over his claim he was too ill to return to Australia to front the Royal Commission (but he did so via video) while once Victorian Police (among the most corrupt forces) announced Pell was to be charged- he hopped on a plane.
Silence from his detractors.

Same mob- some who I know - praised the fanatical ABC "journalist" who penned a disgraceful anti-Pell book full of innuendo and unproved claims that arguably led to his arrest...but in fact the accusations in that book were the ones the Magistrate threw out as "fanciful" and downright "fabrications".

Again...silence.

## I believe the well researched stories by credible Italian journalists...there is hard core faction in The Vatican of Facist powerful priests and Cardinals who hate the "left wing" Pope with a vengeance and especially the "right wing" Pell (who Francis has been friends with for decades- odd 'bedfellows') who Francis tasked with reforming The Vatican finances (ie: getting rid of the Mafia and numerous crooks stealing Vatican money)

## I wish I could say more..Pell is no pal of mine..a funny old conservative but I think he's an honest man and I know 2 powerful people who have set out to destroy him. They are Catholics, powerful and aligned with the right wing Cardinals in The Vatican.

### the story will be told one day..soon I hope. I hear nvestigative journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi is working on it. Nuzzi exposed, with credible evidence, that Gianni Versace was murderd by the Ndrangheta which of course, ho hum, Hedda was saying (on here and elsewhwere) at least 10 years before Nuzzi confirmed it.

#### Barney is Excommunicated

None of these scandals have decreased the amount of worshippers!?

Untrue - take Ireland, for example, where abuse was rife. And denied, for years, by the hierarchy and the Vatican.

Accepted now because of widespread evidence - with hundreds of clergy involved.

Few attend church now - or get married in a Catholic church. Pope Francis' August visit will be a very interesting guage!

Whether Pell is guilty or not - I don't know: He's just one in a long international queue of Catholic senior clerics accused of child abuse.

Like in Chile now, absolutely hundreds of dioceses in the US have been involved - should you care to Google instead of defending.

Billions have been paid by the RCC church in compensation for systematic abuse - did you not know?

Just one current figure - put into the public domain last year.

Pope Francis said that the Vatican currently has a 2,000+ backlog of cases to investigate, involving their clergy.

One significant and recurring feature of all cases in that the evidence was produced from outside the church, which initially denied it.

The Boston Globe published indisputable evidence and the church immediately settled - with Cardinal Law promoted to the Vatican!

If ever there was a need to independently investigate a deep culture of systematic child abuse, it is now.

Wilson of Adelaide is the highest ranking RC cleric to get a jail sentence - but will sill retain his post, notwithstanding his conviction and a dementia plea at his trial!!

But the abuse continues...

Wilson is now appealing his conviction!

It's amazing how few clerics have ever actually served a sentence - anywhere.

Usually the naughty Cardinals, Bishops etc. - are given a cushy job in the Vatican.

Priests continue to arrive in obscure parishes, in different countries, with the relative legal proceedings forgotten/vanished!!

Just back from the missions is the usual storyline for these paedophiles - allowing them to continue abusing.

'Fr Joe did great work out there - in awful conditions and circumstances. We should all welcome Joe into the the heart of our families'...

hedda wrote:
Barney is balmy.

there are over 1 billion Catholics in the world. None of these scandals have decreased the number of worshippers. In fact if anything it re-enforces the work of the those nuns & priests who do good seeing the miscreants are a few even though they receive maximum publicity.

And mentioning Pell in this mob demonstartes a biased mind.
Seeing the Magistrate- no pal of Pell's barrister who she fought with- threw out the most serious charges, I expect Pell to be exonerated.

A good example of the sheer hatred and nastiness of those who hate the Church and pick on Pell as a "whipping boy" is the number of alleged proper journalists who have been so snarky about Pell..firstly castigating him over his claim he was too ill to return to Australia to front the Royal Commission (but he did so via video) while once Victorian Police (among the most corrupt forces) announced Pell was to be charged- he hopped on a plane.
Silence from his detractors.

Same mob- some who I know - praised the fanatical ABC "journalist" who penned a disgraceful anti-Pell book full of innuendo and unproved claims that arguably led to his arrest...but in fact the accusations in that book were the ones the Magistrate threw out as "fanciful" and downright "fabrications".

Again...silence.

## I believe the well researched stories by credible Italian journalists...there is hard core faction in The Vatican of Facist powerful priests and Cardinals who hate the "left wing" Pope with a vengeance and especially the "right wing" Pell (who Francis has been friends with for decades- odd 'bedfellows') who Francis tasked with reforming The Vatican finances (ie: getting rid of the Mafia and numerous crooks stealing Vatican money)

## I wish I could say more..Pell is no pal of mine..a funny old conservative but I think he's an honest man and I know 2 powerful people who have set out to destroy him. They are Catholics, powerful and aligned with the right wing Cardinals in The Vatican.

### the story will be told one day..soon I hope. I hear nvestigative journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi is working on it. Nuzzi exposed, with credible evidence, that Gianni Versace was murderd by the Ndrangheta which of course, ho hum, Hedda was saying (on here and elsewhwere) at least 10 years before Nuzzi confirmed it.

#### Barney is Excommunicated

Church numbers of course have been declining for centuries, you are of course right to mention that these scandals in themselves have made any real difference.the OP mixes up years of decline that were inevitable,then tried to blame that on these scandals.
Thank you Hedda for adding comments from the heart of the action.

You quote no figures or countries.

Just broad statements; but take Ireland for example.

In 1984, about 90% went to church on Sundays; now Google will confirm just over 10%.

Many Catholics there won't allow RC clergy to baptise or marry - either.

As an example, Google the Father Sean Fortune saga - one of the many paedophile priests supported for years by the church.

To suggest the scandals had no affect is ludicrous.

Pope Francis won't be having too many press conferences during his August visit to Ireland!

Even though he has been forced to admit - and apologise for - the endemic abuse by clergy there.

Which continues!?

Barney wrote:
None of these scandals have decreased the amount of worshippers!?

Untrue - take Ireland, for example, where abuse was rife. And denied, for years, by the hierarchy and the Vatican.

Accepted now because of widespread evidence - with hundreds of clergy involved.

Few attend church now - or get married in a Catholic church. Pope Francis' August visit will be a very interesting guage!

Whether Pell is guilty or not - I don't know: He's just one in a long international queue of Catholic senior clerics accused of child abuse.

Like in Chile now, absolutely hundreds of dioceses in the US have been involved - should you care to Google instead of defending.

Billions have been paid by the RCC church in compensation for systematic abuse - did you not know?

Barney shouldn't be commenting as he has been Excommunicated. Perhaps he is an agent of the the very powerful Cardinal in The Vatican who is the one out to get rid of Pope Francis.

However as Hedda is almost saint like and very religious and tolerant I'll responded to Barney (who must never enter a church again).

Ireland is a special case. The Catholic Church since late 1800s has had a pretty woeful history. But it was in line with Irish authorites at the time and reflected the tough almost ruthless attitudes of the day.

In South America Catholcism still rules. The Philipines, Poland, Germany and so on.

There are more Catholics in the world today than there were in 1850, 1900, 1950 etc but because there are billions more people.

In individual countries numbers may shif and change

An example: the Catholic population of Australia in 1930 numbered around 38% in a population of around 7 million ie: 2,660,000 Catholics

But the percentage of Catholics has been declining..today around 22.2% in a population of at least 25 million which means...around 5,600,000 plus Catholics..so in fact the numbers have doubled over the decades.

The same is probably similar in all the Catholic countries ..the percentage may decline but the numbers increase.

This is why it's so useless for ordinary mortals to argue with Hedda.

However I will pray for Barney's soul. I have influence up there.

And the hundreds of dioceses in North America - who are still paying out $ billions - are not special cases!

The Boston Globe's investigative team, Spotlight - took on Cardinal Law (who denied all wrongdoing, including the abuse and compensation paid).

Hundreds of priests were proven to be guilty of child abuse - by the Globe - and Hollywood made a movie about it, called Spotlight.

Watch it and learn. Law was promoted to the Vatican - there are no 'special cases' when systematic child abuse happens daily!

And yes Hedda - like football, the Catholicism numbers are increasing largely in line with the World population; at least, we can agree on that.

But do you disagree with (or were you aware of the individuals) my posts on Wilson (Australia), Fortune (Ireland) or Law (USA)?

The jury may still be out on Pell - but not the three mentioned above, who were all initially supported by the RCC. Law was even promoted for his failed defence campaign!

Firstly, it has to be a good thing to have people treated fairly and with respect. Thus to ensure that children are not mistreated and sexually abused is essential for the Catholic church, as it is with us all to do what we can to ensure all is well. Those, like the Catholic church who have the resources need to provide a safe, secure environment with good values.

BUT in raising the latest issue of child abuse by Catholic priests, which I must say I had thought was "old news" and I had thought many changes have been put in place and are in the process of been put in place to prevent the re-occurrence of abuse and dealing with abuse where it occurs within the Catholic church. Much in the same way the Catholic Church does not indulge in old fashion witch hunts and Inquisitions. Those now seem to be carried out by the media, public, CPS, police, judges, prosecution, slack non caring defense counsel when available that is and from government personnel ignoring the real issues from all sides. One sided "metoo" movements although all highlight key issues, too many ignore lying, media stories and attention, political interests that meet targets and get votes. "Metoo" and others completely ignore the immense seductive power women weld and use regularly to manipulate people to their own ends. Faults from many sides that it is not one sided. Also, evidence is now bypassed by almost all.

This brings me to what I am now seeing in this latest "bash a catholic priest" movement that Barney has highlighted in that it has crucially moved away from "reliable evidence". When I read the various stories and say to myself "what evidence have the stories presented?" there is nothing in the presented report to support the allegations. And now I am reading what I would call band-wagoners, sympathy hunters, media attention seekers, compensation fraudsters all with a story from somewhere in the past. Is the story true? No one can know what is true without evidence, and even cleverly presented so called evidential items can have us believing, been convinced like the use of so called expert witnesses for example. If there is NO documentation from the period of the allegations like meeting minutes and the priest been re assigned because of certain issues and so on - all historically documented then well then there is no good evidence pointing to possible inappropriate behaviour. A little possible historical evidence unearthed is only the start. The stories on their own and nothing else or some crazy item out of context like for example that happened in one trial "teenage scribbles on a wall" with no evidence of context (i.e. was the building vacant at the time and it was a teenage hang out). In the same way finger prints and DNA in a place does not make evidence on it's own as both DNA and finger prints can reside for a reasonable length of time.

These latest rounds appear to be another "believe the witness" only approach. Talk about having faith!!!

Final note I am not taking sides in that all accused are "falsely accused", my issue is solely with lack of evidence, thus due to the strong tendency of humans to lie, I take the position of innocence (same as the legal ideal that the person is innocence until proven guilty even if I think he/she is guilty my position logically is still "innocent"). Thus my lack of interest in the gossiper, storyteller. My position is simply if you want my full support then the evidence please otherwise forget it and move and give yourself a great life and stop moaning.

In fact the concept of unmarried priests seems in general a recipe for sexual frustration in some who are not suited to the life of a priest, thus causing unnecessary problems. Though in years gone by the issue was raised in a TV series based on a book called "The Thorn Birds" and the story line did not involve children but more "rationally" a priest and a woman (must read the book!).

Old news, no.

Archbishop 'Adelaide' Wilson was just sentenced to imprisonment.

There are many more before the courts. ALL the RCC hierarchy in Chile have resigned - and the Vatican seems confused as to what the next step should be!

The most likely outcome will be, as usual, to attempt to cover things up internally.

Like Washington, Ireland, Boston etc. ALL are now a matter of public record - but not through RCC admission, by whistleblowers/victims etc.


It's all on Google, attributable and proven in many international courts.

Why dispute it....

hedda wrote:
[quote]Barney wrote:


However I will pray for Barney's soul. I have influence up there.

If only you Cod see how out of Plaice that would be.

I smell something fishy about this poster,a person of many guises,whose nets trawl in many names to insult all in his way.

Barney wrote:
And yes Hedda - like football, the Catholicism numbers are increasing largely in line with the World population; at least, we can agree on that.

But do you disagree with (or were you aware of the individuals) my posts on Wilson (Australia), Fortune (Ireland) or Law (USA)?

The jury may still be out on Pell - but not the three mentioned above, who were all initially supported by the RCC. Law was even promoted for his failed defence campaign!

there have been cases where the church has "protected" abusers but largely it was really the norm at the time. No-one really wanted to know or if they did they didn't do anything..and that included police, parents and the general public.

Much of what is happening now is today's "morality" being imposed upon yesterday's "morality" and while people sceech and scream that shouldn't be the case as penalties imposed must relfect the ones that were in at the time.

Interesting that Pell received the vilest of attacks including from an hysterical media because he accompanied one of the Oz church's most infamous abusers Gerald Risdale to court.

But Pell was doing his duty as a priest- giving moral comfort to a man being tried- who was still innocent at that stage. But Australia's vile media never let up about it.

And when Gerard Risedale's nephew who claims he was abused and told George Pell (who denies it) the same hysterical media went into their vile act again.

Especially when the nephew Risedale said he was travelling to Rome to "confront" Pell who was too sick to travel to Australia for the Royal Commission.

The vile "comedian" Tim Minchin even wrote the most vicious song about Pell in this case (to raise money for the nephew Risdale's Rome trip) and the media went into hysterical promotion of the song with ghastly pundits almost foaming at the mouth.

Alas..a few weeks after Risdale and other victims had returned to Australia with Risdale being treated as a hero...[b]a man who had been taken into bushes and raped by the very same Risdale when he was 12 was so distressed to see his convicted abuser being lauded he spoke up.
Risdale's fellow Rome travellers expressed shock and ditress at Risdale's deception.

Minchin cowardly remained silent as did the combined media. Other's said the younger Risdale probably abused a young boy because he was abused thereby claiming all victims become abusers. When sane people (me) said "then perhaps that's why Catholic priests also abused" they were shot down in flames,

I only point this out as it examples the often hysterical media sensationalism that can surounds the Catholic Church.

I mention Minchin because he's an avowed aetheist- he can believe what he wants- but I went right off him before the Pell matter when he was interviewed by a fellow aetheist (just another religion)and he arrogantly said about himself : "it's such a burden when you know you are rigjht and the rest of the world is wrong". Like..how in the fuck could he (or me) actually know?

# Tim Michin recently returned from Hollywood after his dreams of a movie career were dashed. Karma.

### Some of Australia's most famous journalists who mocked and abused George Pell for not fronting the Royal Commission in person and also claimed "he will never return to Australia as there is no extraditon treaty with The Vatican" remained cowardly silent when George Pell immediately returned to Australia after being told he was to be charged with crimes.

#### Needless to say when I question these "journalists" on Twitter they merely block me.

## Hedda prays for Barney's soul.

wjlmarsh wrote:
Firstly, it has to be a good thing to have people treated fairly and with respect. Thus to ensure that children are not mistreated and sexually abused is essential for the Catholic church, as it is with us all to do what we can to ensure all is well. Those, like the Catholic church who have the resources need to provide a safe, secure environment with good values.

BUT in raising the latest issue of child abuse by Catholic priests, which I must say I had thought was "old news" and I had thought many changes have been put in place and are in the process of been put in place to prevent the re-occurrence of abuse and dealing with abuse where it occurs within the Catholic church. Much in the same way the Catholic Church does not indulge in old fashion witch hunts and Inquisitions. Those now seem to be carried out by the media, public, CPS, police, judges, prosecution, slack non caring defense counsel when available that is and from government personnel ignoring the real issues from all sides. One sided "metoo" movements although all highlight key issues, too many ignore lying, media stories and attention, political interests that meet targets and get votes. "Metoo" and others completely ignore the immense seductive power women weld and use regularly to manipulate people to their own ends. Faults from many sides that it is not one sided. Also, evidence is now bypassed by almost all.

This brings me to what I am now seeing in this latest "bash a catholic priest" movement that Barney has highlighted in that it has crucially moved away from "reliable evidence". When I read the various stories and say to myself "what evidence have the stories presented?" there is nothing in the presented report to support the allegations. And now I am reading what I would call band-wagoners, sympathy hunters, media attention seekers, compensation fraudsters all with a story from somewhere in the past. Is the story true? No one can know what is true without evidence, and even cleverly presented so called evidential items can have us believing, been convinced like the use of so called expert witnesses for example. If there is NO documentation from the period of the allegations like meeting minutes and the priest been re assigned because of certain issues and so on - all historically documented then well then there is no good evidence pointing to possible inappropriate behaviour. A little possible historical evidence unearthed is only the start. The stories on their own and nothing else or some crazy item out of context like for example that happened in one trial "teenage scribbles on a wall" with no evidence of context (i.e. was the building vacant at the time and it was a teenage hang out). In the same way finger prints and DNA in a place does not make evidence on it's own as both DNA and finger prints can reside for a reasonable length of time.

These latest rounds appear to be another "believe the witness" only approach. Talk about having faith!!!

Final note I am not taking sides in that all accused are "falsely accused", my issue is solely with lack of evidence, thus due to the strong tendency of humans to lie, I take the position of innocence (same as the legal ideal that the person is innocence until proven guilty even if I think he/she is guilty my position logically is still "innocent"). Thus my lack of interest in the gossiper, storyteller. My position is simply if you want my full support then the evidence please otherwise forget it and move and give yourself a great life and stop moaning.

In fact the concept of unmarried priests seems in general a recipe for sexual frustration in some who are not suited to the life of a priest, thus causing unnecessary problems. Though in years gone by the issue was raised in a TV series based on a book called "The Thorn Birds" and the story line did not involve children but more "rationally" a priest and a woman (must read the book!).

In The Thorn birds, Father Ralph became "interested" in Meggy when she was a child.

Quite apart from Pell - who, if convicted, will be the highest ranking Catholic cleric to be found guilty of child sex abuse - Australia is high on the league table, for accused priests.

Between 1950 and 2010, 7% of priests were accused - with over 40%(!) of those in some religious orders.

Thousands of priests there had to answer charges - and per capita - the abuse was just as bad (or worse) than in Ireland.

In both countries (and, in the US - from Dallas to St Paul and Minneapolis), the local clergy denied all abuse, and just transferred the abusers to other parishes.

All condoned by the Vatican and several popes.

One good thing has come out though, the RCC has been outed for what it is - by so many (people and organisations) in hundred of countries.

Consequently, ordinations are rare these days - leaving a very uncertain future for the entire cult.

honey!oh sugar sugar. wrote:

In The Thorn birds, Father Ralph became "interested" in Meggy when she was a child.

Thanks Honey - just downloaded the book and as I am behind my Goodreads site target of books, I will start read it, should be interesting and help me meet my target of books read for the year!!!

Catholics to some extend follow the New Testament as a place of authoritative direction and also Pope decrees. Like the CPS who ignore the directive for the prosecution to proceed "only" where the evidence is "reliable", the police who are expected to explore all reasonable lines of inquiry and judges who are expected to conduct a fair and objective trial(an assumption - as too much junk to read to get to the bottom of what judges are really suppose to do) . Well...the pope and the Catholic church also are known to ignore the key directives of the New Testament, so yes there are issues to face.

The emphasis of the instruction book is not running to the police every five minutes but FORGIVENESS and "new starts". So Catholic leaders are now caught in a difficult choice situation. Yes as I pointed out historically priests who fail consistently, get noticed and the evidence does exist from the time. Hedda quite correctly points out that judging the leaders by today's standards in a modern day Kangaroo court is not fair. I have read up on some of the names Barney has noted in the latest cases and the ones I read were not sex abusers but were at some point the overall person in charge when the one or so individual's abuse had become known and these leaders are now accused of covering up. It is clear the Catholics have failed in not removing priests sooner from their position which they would of done if they followed the handbook.

Once the statistics are out of the way and one looks for clear cases of abusive behaviour with evidence the numbers come right "down". It's like operation Yewtree where there is clear evidence that some accused were able to document and show that even though the number of accusers against each one individual was high they still were clearly lying - each individual faced around 10, 20 or more accusers and they could counter every story and the police/CPS who still believe in Santa Claus could not proceed. Jimmy Savile had hundreds of accusers with some often outrageous, ridiculous story (not one case had evidence just stories by the hundreds) The point is numbers and court cases need whittling down to find what is really known. So yes the priest celibacy issues and strict lifetime insistence approach will create an environment where child sexual abuse is more likely than most other situations to occur from time to time. And yes the Catholic church needs to face the issues which I understand they are doing. Hopefully they will tackle birth control and other lingering issues as well.

FORGIVENESS and "new starts" is completely opposite to the modern legal system of a hint of wrongdoing then convict and throw away the key approach.

Secondly not yet noted as well is Cardinals, priests and parishioners will from time to time receive stories from liars and fantasists that can be shown not to be real. It is not a regular weekly occurrence but does happen a lot. Not just the Catholic church but in much of life's situations. People like attention and what better way to get it than with a juicy story!!!! In general, people do not run to the police and report the story most often get to know over time what can be discounted. Reality check!!!

A most unusual, long winded and bizarre interpretation of the proven (and admitted) mammoth child sex problems - within the RCC.

Google is your friend. Read about Fortune, Carmody, Smyth - sex offenders in Ireland. And those in hundreds of US parishes, ALL clerics, who were judged and convicted.

Then the thousands of Australian priests who were caught! Wilson of Adelaide is just the latest.

Chile is worthy of mention too, and so many other countries. Why do fools fall in love - and ignore substantiated facts!

I continue to use Pell as an example of how the media aided by hysterics and ardent Catholic Church haters..very common...have "driven" the charges against him.

Pell has been hated for a very long time and been the butt of journalists jibes because he is very conservative.

(again socialist Hedda ends up defending a conservative).

The media has repeatedy promoted and published myths about Pell without retraction:

one perfect example;

Much of the Catholic Church abuse in Australia took place in a large regional city Ballarat ( a Catholic 'enclave')

However some unchallenged claims apprear fanciful such as one man (receiving much compo) claiming Nuns would wrench teeth out of small children with pliers on a regular basis as punishment.

This is pretty ludicrous. Not only would such an untreated assault probably lead to many deaths of small childrem from blood loss and so on...the Church Homes had regular health visits from local council doctors etc.

But because these tales were told in the Royal Commission with Church lawyers not questioning them (not wanting to put genuine victims through more stress) the media just accepted unproved claims as truth.

With Pell who studied to be a priest at Ballarat: some journalists describe Pell as the "former Bishop of Ballarat who ignored abuse"..complete bullshit.,.he was never a Bishop until a decade later...he was one of 100s of priest training there.

but...and a very Big But.. was that Pell lived in the same house for a few months with one of Australia's worst abusing priest Gerard Risdale (he confessed).

Pell has been roundly condemned for "not seeing Risdale's abuse"..while no other priest has been condemned.

Why? Only because Pell later became powerful. But at the time he was just a trainee priest..yet..and a very Big Yet..a man who shared a room for two years with Risdale (in the house that 20 priests lived in along with Pell for some 4 months)...was one of Australia's most respected poltical journalist's Paul Bongiorno who studied to be a priest.

He says he was shocked to discover decades later Risdale was an abuser as he never saw a hint of it even though he lived in the same room as Rsidale for 2 years.

Not a word of condemnation about Bongiorno (and quite rightly as Risdale was very secretive and clever) yet George Pell has been repeatedly condemned as a myth has been built up around him for 2 decades until finally...3 accusers come out of the woodwork in the last 24 months...and the worst claims were thrown out of the Magistrates Court as "fanciful" and "impossible".

Even so..Pell's trial will now be in secret ..as demanded by Prosecution ...,after a Court Worker was discovered attempting to sell confidential court papers to the media.

Undoubtedly there have bene some dreadful cases of abuse. Undoubtedly some innocent priests have bene convicted.

It's ironic that George Pell was the first powerful Catholic in the world to set up a schemne to aid victims is eventually accused some 15 years after he did.

Even then the prejudiced media have falsely labelled his compensation scheme as an attempt to stop victims complaining to police...when it was no such thing.

What Pell did was say to victims.."you will be paid compensation and you do not have to make a police report..but if you do the Church will also fully suppoort you..but if you don't you will be supported and compensated."

So a Cardinal attempts to do the right thing but is even comdemned for that.