Pedophile’s abuse not of much interest to me: George Pell

Cardinal George Pell’s future hangs in the balance after he was warned yesterday he could be seen as culpable by the child abuse royal commission, and admitting the “sad story” of a pedophile priest “wasn’t of much interest to me”.

Giving evidence from Rome on the handling of the case of serial pedophile Gerald Ridsdale, ­Cardinal Pell drew gasps from ­observers with his comments. Commission members described Cardinal Pell’s evidence as at times “implausible” and “surprising”.

With a papal decision on whether to extend Cardinal Pell’s tenure in control of the Vatican’s finances due in June, Australia’s most senior Catholic official ­arrived to give evidence to the commission yesterday, saying he had the “full backing of the Pope”.

After a day spent defending his actions during four church meetings in which Ridsdale, a known pedophile priest, was repeatedly moved between parishes during 1977-82, senior sources in the church told The Australian opinion might have shifted against Cardinal Pell.