The Pell conviction - a character test of his defenders

The Pell conviction - a character test of his defenders

This week the world witnessed the extraordinary revelation that the third most powerful Catholic in the world, the Cardinal once touted as the next pope, had been found guilty of child sex offences. Cardinal George Pell, former Vatican Treasurer, was convicted of molesting two choirboys during the 1990s. And yet, prominent people have come forward defending him regardless of his crimes.

One of the two choirboys died of a heroin overdose in 2014, while the other came forward about the abuse after his mate died. The one who died had been a normal 13 year old boy, but by 14 was using heroin and not wanting to sing in the choir anymore. Numerous times his mother asked if he had been molested, but each time he denied it. It is not unusual for children to deny being sexually abused. It is evident that something had happened to trigger his downfall; whether it was abuse at the hands of Pell or other clergy. Both boys had scholarships to the prestigious St Kevin's College. It is likely that one of the reasons for the boys not coming forward at the time, is that this would likely have affected their scholarship, putting financial pressure on their families.

Disturbingly, a number of people immediately leapt to Pell's defence following his conviction. Perennial shit-stirrers, Andrew Bolt and Miranda Devine immediately began the victim-blaming and waffled on about the unfairness of the conviction. Two former prime ministers jumped in to defend Pell immediately, namely Tony Abbott and John Howard; neither of whom are men of integrity anyway. Both Abbott and Howard had lied about refugees, demonised them, used them as political pawns to win elections and maintain their power, while locking them up in remote or off-shore detention centres indefinitely. Sadly, these two are considered conservative heroes, because truth is less important than fear-mongering, xenophobia and lies, as long as it panders to conservative bigotry.

Howard wrote a glowing character reference for Pell, which is exceptionally concerning and is indicative of the issues facing conservative politics and right-wing christianity. It's one thing to say that Pell had done a lot for the community, or that Howard didn't believe he was guilty. However, it is an entirely different ballgame to declare that 'none of these matters alter my opinion'⁽¹⁾! Keep in mind, that 'these matters' involve Pell raping two twelve-year old boys. As far as Howard is concerned, he doesn't care what Pell did, he still thinks Pell is a great guy. Howard described Pell as a 'lively conversationalist', as if this outweighs sexually abusing two young boys.

According to people who knew him, Ted Bundy was a 'great guy' too. He was a great conversationalist with a small character flaw: he liked to rape and murder women. But hey, he was a 'very nice guy' and some people didn't believe he did the crimes he was eventually executed for. One of Bundy's friends even compared his character to President John F. Kennedy. But Bundy was a chameleon - he tailored his persona to fit each situation⁽²⁾. Not unlike others who have dark secrets they are keeping from others ... such as those who molest children.

With all his gushing reverence of Pell, perhaps, Howard will go on to produce 'Pell the musical' and have some handsome Hollywood actor play the part of the misunderstood pedophile priest who is a lively conversationalist while raping a teenage boy.

It is almost inconceivable that Howard still thinks of Pell being a great guy regardless of his conviction as a pedophile.  Conservative politics is seeing this type of unconditional acceptance of depravity played out time after time. Regardless of what a politician has done, many conservatives will continue supporting them. Donald Trump is a case in point. He has been accused of deliberately walking into dressing rooms of teenage girls, of making lewd comments about dating them when they're a bit older. He has admitted on TV to sexually assaulting women by 'grabbing them on the pussy'. Yet conservatives, right-wing Christians, ignore this and continue voting for him. Trump once said he could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and people would still vote for him. He was right. It also seems that a Cardinal can rape teenage boys and still be welcomed by some conservatives and Christians.

Whether Pell's appeal against his conviction is successful or not, Howard's willingness to accept him regardless of 'these matters' will echo for years and reflect on the character of Howard. A man who was willing to still consider a convicted pedophile as a great person. For Howard, Pell's guilt or innocence wasn't the issue. If Pell really did those things, Howard's high opinion of him remains.

For all those conservatives who have defended Pell, particularly Howard, Abbott, Bolt, Devine, what if this was a Muslim cleric, or an African refugee, or an indigenous elder, who was convicted of raping two boys on the testimony of one eye-witness. Would they be defending him then? Howard lied about refugees throwing children overboard, so that he could stir hate and fear purely for his own political ends. Abbott also demonised refugees and asylum seekers. Bolt has been attacking Muslims, African gangs, indigenous people for years. He was convicted of breaching the Racial Discrimination Act over two of his articles because of the lies he wrote about indigenous people⁽³⁾. It is a bit rich of Bolt to claim that Pell is a 'scapegoat not a child abuser'⁽⁴⁾, when Bolt has been scapegoating refugees, indigenous people, Muslims and Africans for years. Current Prime Minister Morrison defended Pell in one breath, then the next was scapegoating refugees, saying they would cause Australians to be kicked off hospital waiting lists. Did he care that doctors stated this was garbage? Nope. He used them as scapegoats for years of government inaction and defunding of health budgets⁽⁵⁾. But don't dare scapegoat George Pell for raping children.

Chief Executive of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Kon Karapanagiotidis, nailed it when he tweeted, 'to see the same people who are smearing innocent sick refugees as criminals to deny them medical care in Australia on basis of character, defend the character of a convicted pedophile tells me the ugly truth of how power, privilege, class, religion & race works in my country'.

The victim-blaming includes criticising victims for not reporting the crime immediately. Many victims of rape do not report it straight away for all sorts of reasons, including shame, threats from the perpetrator, and fear that they won't be believed or will be somehow blamed for it. The following letter to the editor, captures the pain that victims suffer when they aren't believed. Clearly, the victim-blaming from Bolt et al is the very reason many victims do not come forward. It is people such as Bolt, Howard, Abbott and all the other pedophile apologists, who cause victims to not report the crime.

Pell is not a nice person. As Arch-Bishop of Sydney, Pell sued a victim of child sexual abuse, on behalf of the Catholic church. John Ellis had sued the Catholic church because of the abuse he had suffered, but a legal loophole caused his lawsuit to fail. Pell was instrumental in this failure by developing what is called the 'Ellis Defence', which prevented individuals suing the church. Being even more vindictive, Pell then spent $1.5 million of church money to sue and destroy Ellis⁽⁶⁾. As Arch-Bishop of Melbourne, he instituted the 'Melbourne Response' which capped payouts to $75,000 for victims of child sexual abuse only if they agreed to remain silent about the abuse⁽⁷⁾. Pell also covered up child abuse by Australia's worst pedophile priest, George Ridsdale. In 1993, Pell supported Ridsdale when he appeared in court charged with 30 counts of sexual abuse, for which he was found guilty⁽⁸⁾. Pell denied knowing about the abuse, even though they worked together and shared accommodation together. Pell supported a pedophile priest, just as Pell's supporters are doing now. Even before Pell was found guilty of child sexual abuse, he was an enabler of sexual abuse within the church.

Fairfax media revealed that Pell was at the centre of numerous allegations going back decades, in which he was accused of committing child abuse and covering-up sexual abuse by other priests. A former counsellor, Helen Last, who was hired by the Catholic Church to help victims of clerical abuse, has blown the whistle on allegations against Pell. She claims she was sacked in 1997 for raising concerns about the Doveton parish which had endured six pedophile priests in a row. She alleges that Pell and vicar-general Denis Hart, had warned her to stay away from Doveton. Some of the claims that Last documented in 1996, included one from a former seminarian who alleged that during the 1980s, Pell and several other priests were having sex parties with young men who were trainee clerics at Mannix College. Last heard many allegations of Pell covering up abuses and that Pell was one of a number of offenders from Ballarat to Melbourne⁽⁹⁾.

In 2006, allegations were made of widespread child sexual abuse in the Northern Territory. Then Prime Minister John Howard responded by sending in the military⁽¹⁰⁾. Howard did not hesitate to unleash the Army into indigenous communities on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations. But when there's a white, Catholic priest convicted of child sexual offenses, does Howard send the military into the Catholic church? Of course not. Instead, he writes a letter praising the convicted pedophile regardless of the crime. This is what white privilege looks like. This is what someone looks like, who has no genuine concern for the welfare of children abused by pedophiles.

The craven hypocrisy of these right-wing, self-appointed defenders of truth and faith, is astounding. They accuse the left of being snow-flakes, of over-reacting with moral outrage whenever the smallest slight befalls them. Yet we have these right-wing snowflakes losing their collective minds over trivial issues such as the date for Australia Day or Cadbury's not writing Easter on what is clearly an Easter Egg. These same right-wing snowflakes then rush to defend a convicted pedophile without thought or concern for his victims, or the victims of the pedophile priests whose crimes he covered up.

Each of these defenders of Pell fought vigorously against marriage equality, claiming it would destroy family values and the moral fabric of society. Pell's defenders are not defending family values or social morals. Each of them has a long, shameful history of moral turpitude in which they lie about, attack and scape-goat innocent people. Pell's apologists are the biggest threat to 'family values'.

While people are entitled to their opinion on this case, to defend Pell regardless of whether he did the crime or not, speaks volumes about the character of those who revere him. And to revere Pell regardless of his documented behaviour of cover-up and silencing of victims, demonstrates a complete lack of concern or respect for victims of sexual abuse.

Instead of defending a perpetrator and an enabler of heinous crimes against children, Pell's defenders should defend the victims and their right to be listened to. They should be calling for justice for the victims of clerical abuse, not denigrating them.

No wonder many victims do not report these crimes, when they know they will experience such vitriol and debasement from politicians and the media. In fact, many victims don't report these crimes because they have no faith in the system. Yet when the system does work and a high-profile priest is convicted of sexual abuse of children, other prominent people criticise it and attack the victims.

Defending Pell regardless of his crimes, speaks volumes about the character of those who continue supporting him.

References

1. The Age, 27 August 2019, 'None of these matters alter my opinion': John Howard's character reference for George Pell, viewed 2 March 2019, https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/none-of-these-matters-alter-my-opinion-john-howard-s-character-reference-for-george-pell-20190227-p510pn.html.

2. Psychology Today, Katherine Ramsland PhD, 18 August 2015, The Bundy Effect, viewed 3 March 2019, https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/shadow-boxing/201508/the-bundy-effect.

3. ABC News, 29 September 2011, Bolt breached discrimination act, judge rules, viewed 1 March 2019, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-28/bolt-found-guilty-of-breaching-discrimination-act/3025918.

4. Junkee, Tom Clift, 27 February 2019, Andrew Bolt And Miranda Devine Are Furiously Defending George Pell Because Of Course They Are, viewed 1 March 2019, https://junkee.com/george-pell-andrew-bolt/195667.

5. SBS News, Evan Young, 2 March 2019, Scott Morrison claims medevac bill will disrupt Australians' healthcare, viewed 3 March 2019, https://www.sbs.com.au/news/scott-morrison-claims-medevac-bill-will-disrupt-australians-healthcare.

6. Medium, Caitlin Johnstone, 27 February 2019, The Monster Pell Has Been Caged At Last, viewed 2 March 2019, https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/the-monster-pell-has-been-caged-at-last-4385cf552438.

7. The Age, Nick O'Malley, 26 February 2019, Pell was always crucial to the church's war on its own victims, viewed 3 March 2019, https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/pell-was-always-crucial-to-the-church-s-war-on-its-own-victims-20190226-p510ef.html.

8. News.com.au, 26 February 2019, The sickening photograph that has haunted Cardinal George Pell for 26 years, viewed 2 March 2019, https://www.news.com.au/national/courts-law/the-sickening-photograph-that-has-haunted-cardinal-george-pell-for-26-years/news-story/50513aa2442d2cb88864b9eb8dca2474.

9. Brisbane Times, Barney Zwartz, 7 March 2019, Church knew Pell was at centre of decades-old lurid sex claims, viewed 7 March 2019, https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/victoria/church-knew-pell-was-at-centre-of-decades-old-lurid-sex-claims-20190307-p512ci.html.

10. NITV News, Amanda Copp, 21 June 2017, Writer of report that sparked NT intervention condemns government, viewed 2 March 2019, https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/nitv-news/article/2017/06/20/writer-report-sparked-nt-intervention-condemns-government.