Cardinal George Pell Arrives at Hotel for Royal Commission Hearings

Cardinal Pell discusses conversations he had with parishioners regarding the interactions between the some of the Christian Brothers and students.Investigation . Cardinal George Pell is set to give evidence to the royal commission.

Picture: David Mirzoeff/i-ImagesSource:SuppliedAUSTRALIAN survivors of child sex abuse have slammed a key part of Cardinal Pells testimony to the Royal Commission, saying reports of brothers openly kissing children are creepy at the very least. Speaking about what he knew of pedophilic activities within the church, the 74-year-old described Brother Fitzgeralds habit of openly kissing boys when they would leave school for the day as eccentric.I think its alleged when some of the boys were leaving he would give them a kiss.

He was a very strange, old-fashioned but good, teacher, things like that, Cardinal Pell said.Cardinal Pell states that he can't remember whether or not he was approached with complaints about teachers touching students during his time as Episcopal Vicar for Education.He was an older man and I remember it being discussed and mentioned to me, he said, adding there were reports the teacher had gone swimming naked with the boys which seemed most unusual but not untowards.

It was just one of several candid moments in a gruelling late-night session in which the Vatican treasurer was grilled by the Royal Commissions Senior Counsel Gail Furness over exactly how much he knew about paedophile priests operating in the Victorian diocese.The Cardinal appeared modest and articulate while facing the video link and immediately struck a more gentle tone than he has in the past, telling the hearing he was not here to defend the indefensible within the opening minutes.Gerald Ridsdale used to take boys on overnight camps.

Picture: SuppliedSource:News LimitedThe church has made enormous mistakes and is working to remedy those, he said. The church in many places, certainly in Australia, has mucked things up, has let people down.Immediately after the briefing, the defacto spokesman for the Australian survivors, David Ridsdale said the group was impressed by the more conciliatory tone from Pell.

We would have to acknowledge that there were some statements that were certainly more constructive than previously, but in saying that there was some very careful selection of words, a very careful manner that was discussed, he said.However another member of the group, Andrew Collins said the Commission was just warming up with the real detail still to come.Cardinal George Pell giving testimony during a video link from Rome at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse hearing.

Picture: AAP/Jeremy PiperSource:AAPThey really only started with the basic questions. They havent got into the hard stuff yet, theyre just building up to that. We wouldnt expect a great deal on the first night he said.

One of the hot button issues is how much Cardinal Pell knew about Gerald Ridsdales sexual offending. The paedophile priest jailed in 1994 is renowned as one of Australias worst sexual predators.He lived at the same property as Pell for 10 months during the early 1970s.

However Pell portrayed himself as a hard-working full time academic for much of the early stage of his career, with one day off a week and little time for gossip and speculation.Pell said while he remembered unusual events, such as Ridsdale taking boys for camping trips, he did not think them improper because We werent alert in those ways anything like the way were alert today.Many others suffered in a similarly terrible way and I deeply regret that, he said.

After the hearing he shook hands of survivors and supporters in the Hotel Quirinales Verdi room before returning to his Vatican apartment.The hearing continues tomorrow.Cardinal George Pell leaves the Hotel Quirinale in Rome after giving evidence to the royal commission via video link on the first day of the hearing.

Picture: Ella PellegriniSource:SuppliedSURVIVORS ARRIVEEarlier, survivors of child sex abuse arrived at Romes Hotel Quirinale in an emotionally charged scene, saying the systemic child abuse inside the Catholic Church needs to stop.We hope the world understands this is systemic child abuse around the world. We need the hierarchy of the Vatican to stand up, survivor David Ridsdale told the crowd of waiting international media that included representatives from CNN and the BBC.

We need to be the last of these survivors.Earlier, Cardinal Pell arrived via a back entrance to the hotel with his aides involved in a fracas with an Australian television crew. Italian police are reviewing the footage.

The extraordinary hearing involving the top Australian in the Vatican has attracted supporters of survivors and sparked interest within the church.Abuse survivors arrive at Hotel Quirinale, Rome to hear Cardinal George Pell give evidence to The Royal Commission via video link. Picture: David Mirzoeff / i-ImagesSource:SuppliedRecently ordained priest and former political scientist Jeffrey Langdon said he had come out of professional interest having known people from Boston in the 1990s who had survived abuse and warned senior figures in the church about it.

We knew priests that had bad reputations, he said, adding that while he did not know the specifics of Ballarat, authority figures were duty bound to consider whether rumours have significance.I would say if you hear enough rumours you have the obligation to follow up. Well get a sense of the responsibility authorities have, he said, referring to the public hearing.

LETTER FOR PELLFor three months, child sex abuse survivor Paul Levey has been carrying a dog-eared envelope with him.Addressed simply, to Cardinal George Pell, The Vatican the one page inside puts into words what he has not been able to say to his face his thoughts on the abuse he suffered as a child and what needs to be done to fix it.Its very to the point, he said, standing jet-lagged outside his Rome hotel.

I want to hand him that letter Its about I am a survivor and I want to be heard.VICTIMS PLEA TO PELL: Nobody kept this child safeThe letter Paul Levey wrote for Cardinal George Pell. Picture: Supplied.

Source:SuppliedIts a chance hell finally get following the Royal Commission hearing which begins at 10pm Sunday evening in the Italian capital. Despite strict security and a ban on protesting, Paul and his partner of 20 years, Michele, have carried a banner announcing their support for Loud Fence the survivor movement that ties ribbons on fences all around the world.If no one is talking about it, people stay quiet, he said.

We find every time the media picks up on it another dozen people come out.ROYAL COMMISSION: What you need to knowFor Paul, hearing church bells and being in the heart of the worlds foremost Catholic city has brought memories of his childhood flooding back.He wants Cardinal Pell, now the Vatican finance boss facing the Royal Commission for the third time, to admit what he knew when decades worth of abuse was occurring in Australian parishes.

He also plans to use a private meeting following the hearing to secure a concrete commitment to supporting survivors.Survivors in Rome. Picture: News Corp AustraliaSource:SuppliedSurvivors in Rome.

Picture: News Corp AustraliaSource:SuppliedWhen Pell announced he would see survivors after the testimony, I dont think he thought we were going to come, Paul said. Michele and I jumped on that.He doesnt have to admit he knew but he has to admit the Catholic Church in Australia has done it wrong.

He needs to stand up and say the church has mucked up and this is what were going to do to fix it.Earlier, the pair visited the Vatican and tied Loud Fence ribbons in various parts of the city. The gesture was echoed by Cardinal Pell at the Vatican Gardens who did the same in support of the people of Ballarat.

I think this is an entirely appropriate place to place a ribbon of support and prayed for all survivors of abuse here. I hope the coming days will eventually lead to healing for everyone, he said.The ribbons placed on window grates at Domus Australia, where Cardinal George Pell usually gives mass.

The ribbons are placed as part of the Loud Fence Movement, in a show of support for victims of child clergy sex abuse. Picture: David Mirzoeff / i-ImagesSource:SuppliedCardinal Pells sister Margaret said her brother had spent the day resting and praying ahead of the Sunday hearing which will be broadcast live to the Royal Commission headquarters in Sydney and Ballarat.It will be covered by a range of American and European media outlets and comes on the same day feature film Spotlight, documenting the real-life story of abuse uncovered by Boston Globe reporters, vies for the Best Picture and Best Director Oscar.

On Saturday, abuse survivors led by David Ridsdale, nephew of Australias most notorious paedophile priest Father Gerald Ridsdale, arrived in Rome wearing T-shirts to support their cause after a crowd-funding campaign raised more than $200,000 for them.We all came to make sure the royal commission process was as open and transparent as it has been in Australia, Mr Ridsdale said.Dominic Ridsdale, a survivor of priestly sex abuse, wears a shirt reading "No more silence" as he stands in front of the Quirinale hotel in Rome.

Picture: AP/Alessandra TarantinoSource:APChrissie Foster, whose two daughters suffered abuse at the hands of paedophile priests said the extraordinary circumstances which have seen the event take place in Rome have been a God-send for families.Weve been working toward this for 20 years and we are so grateful and happy to expose what went on in the Catholic Church to children which shouldnt have happened in the first place and we want to stop it happening in the future, she said.PELL SECURITY SCUFFLEAn Australian TV crew has formally complained to the royal commission as their cameraman was crash tackled by security detail as he attempted to film Cardinal George Pells backdoor entrance to the hearings.

Shortly after 7pm local time, Cardinal Pell and his entourage were still debating whether to arrive at the front of Hotel Quirinale or the back gardens entrance before electing on the latter.A security detail of plain clothed police and others were dispatched to the back gates of the hotels gardens but were surprised to see a cameraman from SBS Australia there while most of the world press were out front.Cardinal George Pell arrives at Hotel Quirinale in Roma from the side door on the first evening of the Royal Commission hearing.

Picture: Supplied.Source:SuppliedIn a howling gale, Cardinal Pell made his way to the entrance with the cameraman dramatically tackled and the reporter from the network clearly punched in the stomach.We did nothing wrong, he said last night as he lodged a formal complaint at the apparent heavy handedness of the security which has enveloped the historic hotel, the venue of the extraordinary royal commission hearings into child abuse.

Two vans full of uniformed officers later turned up, parking discreetly in a side road as did the head of Vatican security and half a dozen of his security officers dressed all in black.The cardinals inglorious entrance with half a dozen aides came as a huge storm of high gale winds and thunder raged overhead.Today, Italian police were reviewing footage of the incident to determine if their actions were lawful.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Pells evidence was to begin at 10pm, but his defence began four hours earlier with his office looking to correct perceived opinions in a report in News Corp newspapers.Sister of Cardinal George Pell, Margaret Pell, arrives at the house of George Pell in Rome, Italy. Picture: David Mirzoeff / i-ImagesSource:SuppliedThe Royal Commission has stated Cardinal Pells attendance recall in Rome was because of his holding of positions of responsibility in both dioceses (Melbourne and Ballarat) at both times in the period being analysed the 1970s to 1990s.

But the cardinals office emailed the newspaper to point out that he was never in charge of the diocese in Ballarat when principle offender Father Gerard Ridsdale molested hundreds of boys only to be moved from parish to parish about the state.Cardinal Pells office also asked that it be noted he was not a close friend of the convicted paedophile, despite the fact they both attended St Patricks College, they shared a house for a year, both went to corpus christi seminary, albeit at different times, and as heard in earlier testimony their families knew each other.Cardinal Pell also said while he did come to court with Ridsdale when he faced charges of paedophilia that did not mean he was there in a support capacity but rather because he was told to do it.

It is necessary to make the corrections, his office said hours before the Cardinal made his much anticipated cross-examination appearance at the commission hearing.It is important we hear and report the truth.Cardinal George Pell arrives at Hotel Quirinale, Rome, ahead of giving evidence to The Royal Commission via video link.

Picture: David Mirzoeff / i-ImagesSource:SuppliedTHE MOST UNFORTUNATE WEDDING OF THE YEARThe dress has been chosen and the menu decided, but what newlywed couple Mia and Michael were not banking on, was an Australian Royal Commission into institutional responses into child sex abuse gate crashing their big day.The public questioning of Cardinal George Pell will take place in Romes opulent Hotel Quirinale, a grand imperial style building with marble columns and high ceiling arches on one of the citys wide cobbled boulevards.Inside the hotels Verdi room, furnished with green upholstered chairs and ceiling chandeliers, the Vatican number three will be grilled on what he knew about paedophile priests operating inside the Catholic Church in Victoria under the Commissions Case Study 28 and Case Study 35.

Its a huge moment for up to 20 survivors and supporters who have travelled 16,000 kilometres to hear the Cardinal in the flesh.During tonights hearing Cardinal Pell will sit at the front of the 168 room with parquetry floors, just past where tables are set with champagne glasses and roped off for the wedding celebrations.His legal representation will remain in Sydney with the hearing broadcast on the Royal Commission website.