Gerald Ridsdale, one of Australia's worst paedophile priests, told one of his victims ''it was the Lord's work'', a court has heard.
Another victim said his belief that the Catholic Church hierarchy had known what Ridsdale and other priests were doing was reinforced by Cardinal George Pell's evidence to the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child sex abuse last year.
Cardinal Pell told the inquiry he had only recently discovered that former Ballarat bishop Ronald Mulkearns had destroyed documents relating to sexual abuse allegations. Bishop Mulkearns was responsible for shifting Ridsdale and several other priests around parishes after concerns were raised by families.
Cardinal Pell, who has been been appointed the Prefect for the Economy of the Holy See, one of the Vatican's most senior roles, responsible for reforming its administration and finances, lived with Ridsdale at a Ballarat presbytery in the early 1970s but said he was not a close friend.
Cardinal Pell admitted he made a mistake when he supported Ridsdale at his first court appearance on child sex offences in Melbourne in 1993, claiming he had ''little idea of the full extent and gravity of his crimes''.
Ridsdale, 79, appeared in the County Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to 30 charges involving sex offences against 11 boys and three girls between 1961 and 1980.
Wearing glasses and a woollen jumper, Ridsdale needed a walking frame to make his way into the dock and kept his head bowed during the plea hearing.
Crown prosecutor Susan Borg said that one of Ridsdale's victims had been a ward of the state at the Nazareth House orphanage in Ballarat when he preyed on her from 1962 to 1964, when she was aged 10 to 13.
On one occasion, Ridsdale wiped away the girl's tears after abusing her and told her what had happened was ''our little secret''. He told the girl he loved her and she was his special little girl before giving her a white bag of boiled lollies.
When the young girl decided to tell one of the nuns what Ridsdale was doing to her, she was told ''good little girls don't talk about such things - off you go''.
In her victim impact statement, the woman told the court that she had trusted Ridsdale because ''he represented God and all that was good''.
She had been convinced she was going to hell and felt evil, dirty, scared and confused because of Ridsdale's abuse. The plea hearing continues.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/court-hears-p ... z2wMOeV52h
"The Lord's Work"
"The Lord's Work"
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: "The Lord's Work"
Everywhere in the world. Every country who has investigated them has found the same thing.
It is their one unifying trait.
yrs,
rubato
It is their one unifying trait.
yrs,
rubato
Re: "The Lord's Work"
Yep.
Any time you have adult men in positions where they can sexually exploit kids, it's gonna happen. Families, churches, schools, orphanages, Boys Clubs, Girls Clubs, summer camps, you name it. It's gonna happen.
For once I agree with the rubato person.
Any time you have adult men in positions where they can sexually exploit kids, it's gonna happen. Families, churches, schools, orphanages, Boys Clubs, Girls Clubs, summer camps, you name it. It's gonna happen.
For once I agree with the rubato person.