Victims call for Australia’s top cardinal to resign over sex abuse

Victims of child sex abuse by Catholic clergy in Australia and their supporters on Tuesday called for the resignation of the church’s top ranking cardinal, saying they were unimpressed with his apology. Sydney archbishop Cardinal George Pell on Monday appeared at a Victorian state government inquiry into the criminal abuse of children, admitting to cover-ups by a predecessor and saying he was ‘absolutely sorry’. But many in the public gallery of the hearing were left unmoved by the statements from Pell, a former archbishop of Melbourne.

Stephen Woods, who suffered at the hands of a paedophile priest, said he was surprised by Pell’s comments that he acted in the best interests of victims. ‘The little care for the victims that he showed, showed that they still don’t get it. He needs to resign. His era is finished,’ Woods told reporters. Victims’ campaigner Helen Last said Pell should be removed given his admissions that the church covered up crimes in order to protect its reputation.