Anthony Foster told how they met the cardinal – now Archbishop of Sydney – when he was Archbishop of Melbourne, in a furniture storage room at a Melbourne presbytery. They said they were squeezed on to a narrow wooden bench, while he sat in a large padded leather chair.
Mr Foster told the inquiry that Cardinal Pell expressed no emotion when shown a picture of the Fosters’ daughter Emma harming herself – she later killed herself – and told them: ‘‘If you don’t like what we are doing, take us to court.’’
Mr Foster appeared before the inquiry with his wife, author and advocate Chrissie Foster, and daughters Katie and Aimee.
Katie Foster is in a wheelchair after being hit by a car when she was drunk. She turned to binge drinking after the abuse at Sacred Heart school by Kevin O’Donnell, though the church had received complaints in 1946, 1958 and 1984 that he was a child abuser.
The parliamentary committee room was packed, but there was utter silence as Mr Foster said that if after any of those complaints, church officials had removed O’Donnell from ministry, ‘‘our daughters and scores of other victims would have been spared their life of torment and the crippling effects’’.
The Fosters refused what they described as the ‘‘paltry’’ sum the church offered under its Melbourne Response and went to court.
Eventually they settled, but for significantly more than they had been offered by the compensation panel.
Church keeping community informed about Inquiry
The Church is keeping the community informed about the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into child abuse through its website, www.facingthetruth.org.au.
Readers can subscribe to receive updates including Fact Sheets and FAQs.
The Catholic Church in Victoria supports those brave
victims who come forward to speak at the Inquiry, and also supports and
respects the privacy of those who choose not to report their complaint
to the police.
The Church hopes the Inquiry will encourage other victims
to come forward.