Child abuse inquiry hears of Ballarat priest’s regrets on paedophile Gerald Ridsdale

ELEANOR HALL: To the child abuse royal commission, which has heard today from a Ballarat priest who said he hadn’t realised that former priest Gerald Ridsdale was abusing children.

Father Adrian McInerney also gave evidence that if someone admitted to committing a crime in the confessional he would go against the teachings of the church and report it to police.

Samantha Donovan is following the royal commission hearings in Ballarat and joins us now.

So Sam, did Father McInerney say he had any suspicions at all about Gerald Ridsdale?

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Well, Father McInerney, Eleanor, is still on the witness stand at the moment giving his evidence.

But the evidence about his concerns or thoughts on Ridsdale actually came from one of the survivor witnesses this morning, Andrew Collins.

He was recalled to the stand to give further evidence today.

He told the commission that after an angry exchange with the bishop of Ballarat Paul Bird – who he said had told him the Ballarat Diocese didn’t have the money to help child abuse victims – he went to the see the St Alipius parish priest Father Adrian McInerney to raise his concerns.

And he told the commission that they got into a discussion about child sexual abuse in the church and the paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale.

Andrew Collins recounted some of his conversation with Father McInerney to the commission this morning.

ANDREW COLLINS: Adrian then said that he needed to confess to a couple of other matters that had always troubled him.

Adrian asked me if I had seen a picture of George Pell accompanying Ridsdale to the court.

I said that I had.

Adrian told me that it could have been him in that picture as he had previously accompanied Ridsdale to court.

He said that he was asked by Ridsdale to provide a reference in a minor matter, but that when they arrived at the court he realised that the matter was about abusing children and that he was unwilling to help Ridsdale.

Adrian told me that Ridsdale would sometimes call over to St Patrick’s Cathedral when Adrian was there, and he would often ask to rest in a room and sometimes share a meal with him.

He said that sometimes Ridsdale might have children with him but he never suspected anything odd.

ELEANOR HALL: That’s Ballarat child abuse survivor Andrew Collins giving evidence to the royal commission this morning.

So Sam, the commission has also been hearing about meetings between the Ballart bishop and local priests, why are their discussions so important to the commission?

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Well, they’re important because it was at these College of Consultors meetings, as they’re called, decisions were made to move paedophile priests.

The commission has heard that Cardinal George Pell, or Father Pell as he was in the 80s, was at some of these meetings.

For example, in September 1982 Ridsdale was discussed at a meeting, Father Pell was there and the decision was made to move Ridsdale to Sydney from the parish of Mortlake.

In his statement last week, George Pell said allegations of paedophilia weren’t raised at those meeting that he attended and he would never condone a decision to transfer Ridsdale if he’d known he’d been abusing children.

Father McInerney is still on the College of Consultors and he’s found it difficult to recall details of the meetings this morning, but he’s said that he would expect the reasons for moving a priest would be discussed at these college meetings, but it’s still certainly not clear if allegations against Ridsdale were raised at meetings attended by George Pell.

ELEANOR HALL: And what exactly did Father McInerney tell the commission about his attitude to reporting crimes raised in the confessional?

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Well, he’s given evidence that in the last three or four years he’s decided that if someone confessed a crime to him in the confessional he would report it to the police, even though this goes against the teachings of the Catholic Church.

He did say though that no one has ever come to him to confess to sexually abusing children.

ELEANOR HALL: Samantha Donovan, our reporter following the royal commission hearings there in Ballarat, thank you.