Captains Catholic strike again! OR Are Abbott & Pyne yearning for papal knighthoods after they retire?

In a move bound to incense many of the 22 per cent of all Australians (4,796,791 people) who declared they had no religion in the 2011 national census and one confirming a disturbing pattern of behaviour, Messrs Abbott and Pyne have decided that taxpayers will now help fund the religious training of clergy in this country.

The Age 5 December 2014:

Taxpayers would subsidise the training of priests and other religious workers at private colleges for the first time under the Abbott government's proposed higher education reforms.  

As well as deregulating university fees and cutting university funding by 20 per cent, the government's proposed higher education package extends federal funding to students at private universities, TAFES and associate degree programs.

Religious teaching, training and vocational institutes would be eligible for a share of $820 million in new Commonwealth funding over three years.

Labor and the Greens attacked the policy, saying it breaches the separation of Church and State. Earlier this year the government controversially announced it would provide $244 million for a new school chaplaincy scheme but would remove the option for schools to hire secular welfare workers……

Eleven theological colleges are currently accredited by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) to provide courses designed to prepare students to enter religious ministries.

Institutes such as the Sydney College of Divinity, Brisbane's Christian Heritage College and the Perth Bible College, which currently charge students full fees, would be eligible for an estimated $4214 funding a year each student under the reforms.

The John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Melbourne, which offers course units including "Theology and Practice of Natural Family Planning" and "Marriage in the Catholic Tradition", would also be eligible for federal support….

The government's reforms were voted down by the Senate this week but will return to Parliament, with some amendments, next year. 

Royal Commission final report on the hell that was the Anglican North Coast Children's Home between 1940 and 1985 and continuing abuse of known adult victims who later sought assistance from the Grafton Diocese

Excerpts from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse: Report of Case Study No. 3 Anglican Diocese of Grafton's response to child sexual abuse at the North Coast Children's Home, 27 October 2014:

The North Coast Children's Home was set up in Lismore in 1919 to house children who were orphans or wards of the state, or had been abandoned or placed there by their parents. 

We heard evidence of frequent sexual, psychological and physical abuse at the Home between 1940 to 1985.

Former residents, Tommy Campion, CA, CB, CD, CH, CK, CN and two others, told us they were sexually abused by clergy, staff or other residents while living at the Home.

Finding 1: The physical, psychological and sexual abuse suffered by the former residents of the North Coast Children's Home who gave evidence to the Royal Commission had profound, long-lasting impacts on their lives and mental health….

Finding 2: At all relevant times, the North Coast Children's Home was:

* strongly associated with the Anglican Church and its predecessor, the Church of England

* controlled by the Board of Management, including the Rector of St Andrew's Church

Lismore in the Diocese of Grafton….

Finding 3: The Diocese of Grafton initially dealt with Tommy Campion's complaint by

providing a copy of the Pastoral Care and Assistance Scheme adopted by the Diocese in

2005. When faced with the group claim, the Diocese changed its response to Tommy

Campion's claim by stating that the Diocese and its Corporate Trustees had no legal

liability for sexual or physical abuse of a child by clergy, staff or other people associated

with the North Coast Children's Home…..

Finding 4: The Diocese of Grafton required group claimants to sign a deed of release

before counselling, acknowledgement, apology or financial settlement would be

provided, except for Tommy Campion, who was already receiving some counselling. This

was inconsistent with the Sydney Pastoral Care and Assistance Scheme that the Diocese of Grafton adopted in 2005….

Finding 5: By 10 October 2006, the Diocese of Grafton was not following its own policies

in its handling of the group claim as set out in the:

* Professional Standards Ordinance and Protocol for Dealing with Complaints of

Sexual Abuse, both adopted in 2004

* Pastoral Care and Assistance Scheme, adopted in 2005.

Finding 6: Bishop Keith Slater, then Bishop of Grafton, and the Diocese of Grafton should have managed the process under the 2004 Protocol for Dealing with Complaints of

Sexual Abuse when the group claim was being handled between the Diocesan and

claimants' solicitors.

Finding 7: The settlement negotiations on 19 and 20 December 2006 were conducted in

a hostile manner, contrary to the spirit of the 2005 Pastoral Care and Assistance Scheme

and the 2004 Protocol for Dealing with Complaints of Sexual Abuse….

Finding 8: The amounts offered to Tommy Campion, CA, CK, CL, CM and CN under the

group claim were substantially lower than if the claim had been resolved under the 2005

Pastoral Care and Assistance Scheme that the Diocese of Grafton had adopted. The

Diocese misled Tommy Campion and CA that the scheme would be followed.

Finding 9: In handling the group claim, the Diocese of Grafton did not apply the 2004

Professional Standards Ordinance and Protocol for Dealing with Complaints of Sexual

Abuse. As a consequence, it did not provide a sympathetic and proportionate pastoral

response to the group claimants.

Finding 10: By denying legal liability, on the basis that it did not control the North Coast

Children's Home, and not providing a pastoral response, the Diocese of Grafton's

response had a detrimental effect on abused former residents….

Finding 11: Bishop Keith Slater did not follow the Pastoral Care and Assistance Scheme in responding to Tommy Campion….

Finding 12: In 2012, when considering the request from Tommy Campion for information, Bishop Keith Slater acted to protect the interests of the former members of the Home's committee, including an elderly former member….

Finding 13: The Diocese of Grafton received further individual claims from former

residents of the North Coast Children's Home, but it did not deal with them in accordance with the Pastoral Care and Assistance Scheme or the settlement of the group claim….

Finding 14: Bishop Keith Slater did not refer either CB's or CC's claims to the Professional Standards Committee, which was contrary to clause 24(1) of the Professional Standards Ordinance 2004.

Finding 15: Between 2006 and 2012, the Primate advised Bishop Keith Slater that:

*  the group claimants should have their complaints properly heard and be offered

counselling and pastoral support

* he should seek out further people who had been abused at the North Coast

Children's Home

* he should inform the police of all criminal allegations which came to his attention

arising out of the North Coast Children's Home.

The bishop did not follow the Primate's advice….

Finding 16: Despite its knowledge of potential claims by 2005, the Diocese of Grafton did not make provision for settling child sexual abuse claims in its annual budgets for 2006, and 2008 to 2012.

Finding 17: Acknowledging that some assets might not be readily available, the Diocese

of Grafton had enough assets either in its name, or in the Corporate Trustees of the

Diocese of Grafton's name, to allow it to settle the claims of child sexual abuse made

between 2005 and 2011 consistent with the Pastoral Care and Assistance Scheme it

adopted in 2005.

Finding 18: The Diocese of Grafton did not make any financial provision for professional

standards matters. It prioritised the Clarence Valley Anglican School debt over its

financial obligations under the Protocol for Dealing with Complaints of Sexual Abuse and

the Pastoral Care and Assistance Scheme to pay abused former residents of the North

Coast Children's Home between 2007 and 2012….

Finding 19: The dioceses of Grafton and Newcastle could both have taken action in

response to the professional standards matters concerning Reverend Allan Kitchingman,

including his discipline. There was no clear system in place to determine which diocese

would assume responsibility.

Finding 20: From 2003 to 2013, Bishop Keith Slater was aware that Reverend Allan

Kitchingman had been convicted of sexual offences against a child, and had authority to

discipline him. Bishop Slater did not start disciplinary proceedings against the reverend.

Finding 21: From 2004, Reverend Patrick Comben was aware that Reverend Allan

Kitchingman had been convicted of sexual offences against a child but did not start

disciplinary proceedings against him.

Finding 22: In 2002, Archbishop Roger Herft, then Bishop of Newcastle, became aware

that Reverend Allan Kitchingman had been convicted of five counts of indecent assault

of a child at an Anglican home in the Diocese of Grafton. Between August 2002 and

February 2004, he did not start disciplinary proceedings against the reverend.

Finding 23: From 2006 to 2007, Philip Gerber, as Professional Standards Director of

Grafton and Newcastle, was aware that Reverend Allan Kitchingman had been convicted

of sexual offences against a child but did not start disciplinary proceedings against him.

Finding 24: The General Synod recommended guidelines for parish safety in 2009. The

Diocese of Newcastle did not adopt guidelines for managing people of concern until

around October 2013. As a result, there were no guidelines to manage any risk posed by

Reverend Allan Kitchingman's involvement in Newcastle Cathedral until October 2013.

Finding 25: From September 2005 until April 2013, no disciplinary action was taken

against Reverend Campbell Brown by the Diocese of Grafton or the Diocese of

Newcastle. During the same period, the Diocese of Grafton took no disciplinary action

against Reverend Winston Morgan.

Finding 26: From 2011 to 2013, Bishop Keith Slater did not refer allegations of criminal

conduct made by CB and CC to NSW Police. This was inconsistent with the 2004

Professional Standards Ordinance and Protocol for Dealing with Complaints of Sexual

Abuse….

Finding 27: The establishment of the National Register of the Anglican Church is a

positive initiative.

Finding 28: At the time of the hearing, the National Register of the Anglican Church did

not record the names of all people who might need to be registered because various

dioceses have been unable to review all their files to determine whether an entry should

be made….

In 2006, over 40 former residents began a group claim against the Diocese of Grafton. They claimed to have suffered physical, psychological and sexual abuse at the Home between 1940 and 1985. Twenty of those claims involved child sexual abuse by clergy, staff, foster parents and others.

On 5 January 2006, Simon Harrison, from the law firm Nicol Robinson Halletts, wrote to Reverend Comben about the claim. Mr Harrison advised that he had instructions to represent 20 former residents who had been abused.

He asked for help identifying some former staff and for some documents related to the Home. Reverend Comben opposed giving this information. He said that he did not want to give the claimants' solicitors 'honorary research assistance'.

On 16 January 2006, Reverend Comben wrote to Peter Roland, from the law firm Foott Law & Co, with instructions to act in the matter for the Church. He asked Mr Roland about raising 'legal cases which deny the liability of an employer for the criminal acts of employees'.

Reverend Comben said that he thought Bishop-in-Council was influenced by a potential claim for $4 million that had been mentioned in the media. He said that

Bishop-in-Council's position was: 'defend it'.

Reverend Comben said he felt 'disappointed' that the matter was proceeding through lawyers. He asked Mr Roland to seek further details so they could give 'a Christian response' along with the legal response.

Mr Roland replied to Mr Harrison seeking more details about the assaults and perpetrators, and said that the Diocese was not a legal entity. He asked which people they proposed to hold liable for the assaults, and on what basis 'given the time which has elapsed'….

It was not until 2013 that the Anglican Church significantly revised its response to former residents of the Home. In May 2013, Ms Hywood, the new acting Registrar, reported to the Primate her concerns about the Diocese of Grafton's handling of claims over the previous six years. She noted that professional standards files were not properly kept or processed, and matters had not been referred to the Professional Standards Director.

Bishop Slater resigned as Bishop of Grafton on 17 May 2013. He issued a media statement apologising for not giving abuse claimants access to the Professional Standards Director.

In September 2013, the Diocese published an apology in several newspapers for the abuse at the Home and its handling of subsequent claims.

In October that year, Bishop-in-Council passed a revised Care and Assistance Scheme. This scheme is not as detailed as the Sydney Care and Assistance Scheme. The Diocese reviewed all claims that had not been investigated under the 2004 Protocol and has offered revised settlements.

Read the full report of Case Study no. 3.

Are you satisfied with your violent handiwork, Mr. Abbott?

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Illustration: Sturt Krygsman

Just a few examples of where your one-eyed, far-right, über Christian politics is taking us, Prime Minister…..

The Hoopla 19 September 2014:

There’s a hashtag doing the rounds on Twitter – #wearascarfday – urging people to don a scarf in support of Australia’s Muslims. There’s a perception – and not just amongst well-meaning lefties – that life is about to become very difficult for our Muslim community…..

 for the Muslim community, the majority of which is peaceful and happy to be a member of Tony Abbott’s “Team Australia”, the raids and the rhetoric around them are not so easy to accept.

Many Muslims see themselves as unwanted, viewed with suspicion, the enemy. They see their kids, especially the males, being singled out and watched, along with ridiculously simplistic and offensive media reports about their communities and their way of life and protests about the intended building of mosques as well as arguments mounted by ignorant politicians (well, one in particular) about the need to ban the burqa.

Fear creates intolerance and since 9/11 Muslims have lived with this.

Yet still, when genuinely frightening evidence is offered of a genuinely frightening threat to innocent people, as it was during yesterdays dramatic raids, people ask why young Australian Muslims are so angry they gravitate towards a militant cult masquerading as a religious movement and claiming to be a state. What they don’t do, is tell themselves that the number of these angry young men is very small and that the vast majority of Muslims are peacefully living in the Australian community, as productive and aspirational as the next non-Muslim family.

Nor do they accept that being Muslim, even in largely tolerant Australia, can be a gruelling life experience.  

http://theantibogan.wordpress.com/ 20 September 2014:

The Australian 20 September 2014:

Sunshine Coast Daily 20 September:

At one point police were booed as they ordered a protester to get down from a stage as he spoke of beheadings and his fears over a mosque.

Protesters questioned what happened to freedom of speech in Australia.

The crowd cheered as supporters lifted the man onto their shoulders so he could continue speaking.

Among those protesting the mosque were One Nation, Christian bikie gangs, opponents of halal meat certification as well as representatives from some local churches.

The Sydney Morning Herald 21 September 2014:

The Cairns Post 21 September 2014:

Mareeba mayor Tom Gilmore said the mosque had been part of the community since the 1950s and labelled the incident “entirely unacceptable”.

“I don’t think it’s ever been defaced before,” he said.

Cr Gilmore said a large group of “highly respected” Muslims had lived in the community since the 1920s.

The Courier Mail 21 September 2014:

DESPITE pleas for calm from the Queensland Premier and senior police, Muslims – particularly women – have been targeted in a series of hate attacks.
The Sunday Mail can reveal Muslim women are being singled out, including one victim who had coffee thrown in her face while she was stopped at traffic lights south of Brisbane.
The woman said a man in a car pulled up beside her and callously doused her in coffee before driving off along Beenleigh Rd.
“I was terrified,’’ she said. “I feel unsafe. I feel like a stranger in my own country.”
Other Muslim women have been abused and threatened, with one told to take off her headscarf – or hijab – at West End by a man who wanted to burn it.
The women did not want to be identified, and all believe they are “collateral damage” from recent police anti-terrorism raids which have fuelled fear and suspicion across the nation.
Sarah, 30, said she’d been waiting outside a shop in Logan Rd at Underwood with a 12-year-old girl when insults were hurled at her by a man riding past on a pushbike.
“He yelled f--- jihad, f--- off, go back home you c--- and continued to verbally abuse us,’’ she said.
In the next 20 minutes she was abused twice by other men. “It’s quite frightening to hear such vile language and hatred. I was fearful,’’ she said.
Stacey, 27, said she had copped offensive insults online.
“I’m a seventh generation Australian,’’ she said. “My family are as Australian as you can get and I’m scared.”

ABC News 24 September 2014:

Sunshine Coast Daily 24 September 2014:

A CATHOLIC priest has been criticised by some of his own parishioners for his attempts to douse the fires between protesters for and against a mosque in Maroochydore.

Father Joe Duffy, the Maroochydore Parish priest, wrote a letter to the Daily apologising for the "absurd and offensive demonstration" last Saturday outside the Stella Maris Church.

But his heartfelt letter didn't strike a happy chord with some members of his church.

Father Duffy said he had received a letter from one parishioner warning he was inciting further "beheadings" and "chopping nuns' breasts off".

New Matilda 24 September 2014:

As images of the raids are beamed across Australia, far right groups are hoping for a return of the violence against Muslims seen during the Cronulla riots, writes Andy Fleming.

Last week’s police raids on properties in Brisbane and Sydney, reportedly the largest “anti-terror” raids in Australian history, have given anti-Muslim activists in Australia an enormous boost. Understood as representing dramatic confirmation of the threat posed to Australia by Islam, the raids also placed Islamophobic groups in the spotlight, chief among them the Australian Defence League (ADL).
Speaking on ABC’s Q&A on Monday night, one Muslim woman reported having received death and rape threats from members of the ADL….

Sunshine Coast Daily 25 September 2014:

Brisbane Times 25 September 2014:

The Australian Tea Party 25 August 2014:

The Guardian 26 September 2014:

An Islamic school in Sydney’s south-west was targeted by a man wielding a knife.

Police were searching for the man who reportedly entered Al-Faisal college in Minto just after 2pm on Thursday, asked if it was a “Muslim school” and threatened a female teacher and student with a knife.

Primary school students hid under their desks while those from the high school were gathered in a prayer hall as the school went into lockdown, one mother said.

The mother, who did not wish to be named, said she was greeted by a swarm of police when arriving to pick up her children.

“I am still pretty much in shock,” the mother said. “I am keeping my younger two [children] home tomorrow. One doesn’t want to go back there.”

Although most schools are on holidays, classes there finish on Friday and students get an extra week’s holidays later in the year, she said.....

The Daily Telegraph 26 September 2014:

A 19-YEAR-OLD man wrongly identified by Fairfax Media as terrorism suspect Numan Haider says he fears leaving his house.

ABU Bakar Alam, 19, a Year 12 student who works part-time at a fast food restaurant, said the ordeal has turned his life upside down.

"I'm really scared," he told SBS Radio.

"I can't go anywhere. I haven't been out all day. I can't do work, I've cancelled my shift. I don't know when I'll be back at school and work.

"I've had such a good name as a student, as a worker. It's a terrible thing to happen."

Mr Alam said his grandfather moved to Australia from Afghanistan but returned to help rebuild the war-torn nation. He died in a suicide bombing in 2006.

"We came here to have a better life, better future and not be known as terrorists," he said.

Mr Alam said he was shocked, then angered, that Fairfax Media had incorrectly identified him as the man shot dead following an altercation with anti-terror police outside Endeavour Hills police station on Tuesday.

"I told my dad and my whole family was really angry, upset for accusing my family, for the bad image which we've never had."…

The Sydney Morning Herald 26 September 2014:

A member of the Australian Defence Force who told police he was attacked by two men of Middle Eastern appearance outside his north-western Sydney home has now withdrawn his complaint.

NSW Police issued a statement on Friday announcing the "allegation of assault has now been withdrawn".

"NSW Police will continue to examine the circumstances that led to the allegation being brought to their attention," the statement said.

The 41-year-old man told police he was threatened and assaulted by two men while wearing his full uniform at Bella Vista at 6.30am on Thursday.

The man, who suffered minor bruising, reported the matter to police and then attended Kings Cross police station in person later on Thursday.

He described his attackers as being of Middle Eastern appearance.

Defence force chief Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin apologised for the incident.

"On behalf of the Australian Defence Force, I would like to apologise to the Australian community and in particular the Middle Eastern community for any angst this has caused," he told reporters in Canberra.

The Guardian  26 September 2014:

New South Wales police have been moved to reassure Australians that text messages claiming members of Islamic State (Isis) are knocking on people’s doors and marking Christian houses are a hoax, as concerns grow about the threat the extremist group poses.

The text message states: “There are members if Isis going door knocking on homes. They greet you with ‘Salam Alaykom’, and then pretend they are trying to collect money for orphans. They come with a black folder and ask you if you want to donate. I have just had one approach me at home just 2 hours ago. Please - do NOT Talk to them or open for them.”

The message, which references areas in the south-west suburbs of Sydney, exhorts people to “spread the word” and apparently convinced enough people for the police to feel compelled to tell them that there was no truth in it. In a tweet on Friday, the police included a picture of the offending text message with “FALSE” written in bold red letters across it. An accompanying message said: “Don’t be fooled by social media myths exploiting the current political climate.”

In all this Prime Minister Abbott is ably supported by Federal Government senators and MHRs, all of whom became complicit via their parliamentray vote and many by their public silence as the politically-inspired Coalition scare campaign rolls on, and as I write I'm looking straight at you Nationals MP for Page Kevin Hogan.

Has 'Captain Catholic' and his merry band of Christian fascisti finally wrecked a proud tradition of secular public education in Australia?

The Sydney Morning Herald 27 August 2014:

The Abbott government is pushing ahead with a religious-only school chaplaincy scheme following a cabinet debate over whether secular welfare workers should be included in the program.

The government was forced to redesign the $224 million scheme after the High Court ruled it invalid in June for the second time in two years. The court found the Commonwealth had over-reached its funding powers by providing direct payments to chaplain providers.

In a bid to prevent another High Court challenge, the federal government will provide funding to state and territory governments to administer the scheme. This new arrangement strengthens the hand of the states and could see some demand an option for secular welfare workers or tougher qualification standards.

In a cabinet meeting on Monday, Abbott government ministers explored options to extend the scheme to include funding for secular welfare workers. This would have reversed the government's existing policy that funding should be restricted to religious chaplains. 

During the cabinet discussion, Mr Abbott argued that the government should stand by its existing policy. Mr Abbott argued the scheme's original intent was supporting pastoral care in schools and that should remain its focus….

The chaplaincy scheme was introduced by the Howard government in 2006. Labor expanded the scheme to include funding for secular welfare workers in 2011 – an option the government scrapped in this year's budget.

Both challenges in the High Court were brought forward by Toowoomba father Ron Williams, a secularist opposed to public funding for religious workers in public schools.

The government rushed forward its announcement about the new scheme on Wednesday afternoon after Fairfax Media revealed the story online. The government had hoped to avoid a distracting debate on chaplains during the introduction of its sweeping higher education changes into Parliament on Thursday.

Well worth repeating: The Age editorial 'Playing Games With Religion In Schools'

Playing games with religion in schools

Date August 1, 2014

The ancient book of Ecclesiastes teaches that there is a time and a place for everything. A time to be silent and a time to speak. There is also a time to pray, if that is what is needed. Whether there is a time and place for students to pray during school lunchtimes, however, is a matter that clearly causes some people enormous concern.

After state Education Minister Martin Dixon issued a ministerial direction about the rules and procedures governing the provision of special religious instruction in government schools, a cry erupted among some Christian groups claiming the rules encroach on basic human rights. Opponents of the directive say it amounts to an attack on religious freedom and free speech, and that it is a step towards outright bans on prayer in schools.

Their rhetoric is inflammatory, and their concerns are misplaced. The government is not banning prayer in school. It is not forbidding students to pray at lunchtime, if that is what they want to do with their meal break. It is saying that prayer forums ''cannot be led'' by teachers or other school staff, by parents, volunteers or visitors. Put another way, if there are prayer groups or meetings of student religious clubs during school hours, then they must not take the form of ''instructed'' prayer. That is a world away from imposing draconian curbs on the rights to religious freedom and free speech.

The rationale is simple. Government schools are secular environments and their primary aim is education. It has been that way since the Education Act of 1872 formalised that public education in this state should be free, secular and compulsory. In 1958, the law was amended to provide an exception allowing non-compulsory religious instruction classes to be held within schools, but on certain conditions and only by accredited providers. It should be noted the law does not bar religious instruction classes being held on state school grounds outside school hours.

The 2006 education legislation states that schools must ''not promote any particular religious practice, denomination or sect'', but it nevertheless allows schools to provide classes of special religious instruction during school hours, only by accredited representatives. To allow non-accredited instructors to supervise religious sessions at lunchtime would be to subvert the system entirely. Mr Dixon's directive provides a framework for schools to ensure they are abiding by the law and not inadvertently providing non-accredited religious instruction classes.

The Age has consistently argued that beyond reading, writing and arithmetic, there is room in schools for the study of the various belief systems and for informed and informative discussion about ethical choices. Education about religion should provide students with sound information about belief structures and religious practices that help shape our world, as well as provide historical context to the role played by religion in our world. A byproduct of all that might be greater social awareness and enhanced tolerance of diversity.

That does not, however, justify a state-backed religious agenda in education. A secular school system should not impose proselytising nor actively sponsor it. If religious instruction is to be conducted at all within the secular school environment, then there must be clear boundaries and rules. Where state schools do provide special classes in religious instruction, who teaches it, how, and when it is provided should all be carefully managed.

Nothing bars students from organising their own religious groups at school; they are not impeded in practising their religion at school. Their fundamental rights are preserved. At the same time, the resources and facilities of the state education system must be directed primarily to education for all

Although the directive mentioned in this editorial applies only to Victorian schools, the debate concerning religion in schools is nation-wide.

For the second time the High Court of Australia rules the National School Chaplaincy and Welfare Program unlawful

Click on image to enlarge

This is the second time that the High Court of Australia has ruled that the Commonwealth funding of the National School Chaplaincy and Student Welfare Program was not supported under provisions contained in the Australian Constitution and/or flowed from unlawful legislation.

Time for the Abbott and Baird governments to finally recognise that religion has no place in public education and, that this particular program violates the principle of separation of church and state.

First High Court judgement in Williams v Commonwealth of Australia [2012] HCA 23 (20 June 2012) and second judgement in Williams v Commonwealth of Australia [2014] HCA 23 (19 June 2014).

Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse: Cardinal George Pell exposed as being selective with the truth

The Sydney Morning Herald  11 March 2014:

Mr Ellis came away from a pivotal meeting with then Archbishop Pell in 2009 with the impression that the litigation had been “a runaway train with nobody at the wheel”. This was after years of legal action that had crippled Mr Ellis mentally and financially…
“No, it left me with the impression that Cardinal Pell was completely out of the loop on all of that decision making,” Mr Ellis said…

The Saturday Paper 15 March 2014:

But on Monday morning, just minutes before Ellis entered the witness box, counsel assisting the commission Gail Furness, SC, in her introductory remarks, dropped something of a bombshell.

She referred to a witness statement by Cardinal George Pell, not yet public because he was not due to appear until later in the week, in which he expressed “some concern” about the way the litigation between the church and Ellis had been handled. She quoted Pell:

“Whatever position was taken by the lawyers during the litigation, or by lawyers or individuals within the archdiocese following the litigation, my own view is that the church in Australia should be able to be sued in cases of this kind.”...

The Sydney Morning Herald 17 March 2014:

Monsignor Rayner who as Archdiocesan chancellor was the official church authority to deal with victim’s complaints, said he told Cardinal Pell about the amounts of money victims of sex abuse sought. But for an agreement to be reached, “finally the decision would have been made by the Archbishop himself”.

The Sydney Morning Herald 18 March 2014:

 Cardinal George Pell was calling all the shots in the notorious case in which the Catholic Church fought off the damages claim of abuse victim John Ellis, his solicitor has confirmed to the child sex abuse Royal Commission. The 2007 Ellis case established the defence which has insulated the church from paying damages to victims in similar cases ever since... 

 Cardinal Pell himself described the litigation against Mr Ellis as “legal abuse”, the Commission has been told. The case caused Mr Ellis harm and suffering, according to senior counsel for the Commission Gail Furness.

 For more than a week, before the Cardinal himself takes the stand, the Commission has been grappling with the question of how much Cardinal Pell knew. Now Paul McCann, the senior partner with Corrs Chambers Westgarth, which conducted the litigation for the church from 2004, has told the Commission he had no doubt the instructions he received through Cardinal Pell’s private secretary Dr Michael Casey came from the Cardinal himself. Cardinal Pell is due to appear early next week.

“What was your understanding of those instructions and whether or not they were informed by Cardinal Pell?’, asked commission chair, Justice Peter McClellan.

Mr McCann replied: “I didn’t have any doubt that the Cardinal was being kept up to date on developments in the case and it is obvious from some of the exchanges that he was in fact seemingly giving instructions as to various steps.’’

According to the solicitor, he was instructed by Dr Casey, who he believed was doing Cardinal Pell’s bidding in relation to several key decisions in the case. These included refusing Mr Ellis’ offer to mediate before the litigation, refusing a compromise offer to pay $750,000 plus costs before the case started and the decision not to put a counter offer to Mr Ellis….

ABC News 18 March 2014:

In a statement presented to the inquiry earlier this month, Cardinal Pell said he was not aware of ex-gratia offers made to Mr Ellis.

But Monsignor Brian Rayner, who represented the Sydney Archdiocese and Archbishop Pell in Towards Healing matters in 2004, has contradicted that statement.

Under cross-examination, Monsignor Rayner maintained the Archbishop was informed.

"I spoke to the Archbishop on every amount of money that was being offered to any particular victim," he said.

Despite saying he did not have authority, Monsignor Rayner offered Mr Ellis a $5,000 increase on the $25,000 payment before gaining the approval of Catholic Church Insurance.

In a lively exchange with the Church's counsel Peter Gray SC, Monsignor Rayner maintained that he had informed Archbishop Pell of the ex-gratia offers made to Mr Ellis.

"My evidence is correct and I've seen the contrary thoughts of the Archbishop and the Archbishop also has occasions when his recollection of events is not clearly accurate," he said.

He also said the Archbishop was very involved in Mr Ellis' case… 

The Sydney Morning Herald 22 March 2014:

The Catholic Church's insurer insisted on being "kept in the loop" in the John Ellis case after lawyers expressed concern at Cardinal George Pell's "tooth and nail" approach, according to evidence at the child sex abuse royal commission.

Peter Rush, then general manager of Catholic Church Insurance Ltd, complained to the business manager of the Sydney Archdiocese about being "kept out of the loop" in the case and warned this could jeopardise the church's insurance, the commission heard…

Dr Casey testified that it was his job to convey instructions to the church's lawyers, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, but the instructions came from Cardinal Pell.

"The general instructions were to vigorously defend the claim and to defeat the litigation, is that right?" asked Gail Furness SC for the commission.

"Yes", Dr Casey replied…

At a 2009 meeting Cardinal Pell told him the church's move from mediation to vigorous pursuit of his case was "unfathomable", Mr Ellis said...