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Top Story Archbishop George Pell, Unembarrassed Ignoramus, a Molester? Pope's Favorite Australian Roman Catholic Prelate is Accused 40-Year-Old Allegations Circulate about an Altar Boy, aged 12 By Jack Nichols Archbishop George Pell: Accused of molesting an altar boy Sydney, Australia-George Pell, Sydney's conservative Roman Catholic Archbishop who is often portrayed in the Australian media as something of a very loose cannon, has now been accused of having molested a 12-year old altar boy. The abuse was reputed to have occurred in 1961 on Smith's Beach on Phillip Island when the accused was a trainee-priest. The complainant is currently an anonymous male who, rather than taking the matter to the police, is asking Roman Catholic authorities to listen to his accusation and to examine the evidence. The Herald Sun, using an odd twist of words for an investigative report, says that it "understands" that the 53-year old complainant "is a former painter and docker with many criminal convictions, including amphetamine and cannabis trafficking and SP bookmaking. He has served several years in jail." (The Herald, apparently, was unable by its press time to discover precisely how many years the molestation complainant had served). The complaint against Archbishop Pell had been launched in June although a decision to investigate is just now being made public by the Catholic Church's own National Committee for Professional Standards. A retired Victorian Supreme Court judge, Alec Southwell, will act as the Committee's chair. Pell, who is said to be the Pope's favorite Australian prelate, announced yesterday that he would take a leave of absence while the inflammatory allegations about his touching of the boy and that he denies, are examined. (Australian) ABC-TV's Kerry O'Brien noted that the Roman Catholic Church is experiencing shell-shock "after revelations of sexual abuse and cover-up by its priests and bishops here and overseas," and that it "has suffered another body blow." On the 7:30 Report, addressing a former director of the Church's National Committee for Professional Standards, O'Brien expressed the public's depth of feeling that has been aroused at "just the mere image of your most senior (Roman Catholic) figure in Australia having to step down." Stepping away from his post in haste, Archbishop Pell said: "For the good the church and to preserve the dignity of the office of Archbishop of Sydney, I will take leave from today from my work as Archbishop of Sydney until the inquiry is completed." A spokesperson for Broken Rites, a Roman Catholic victim's group, said: "For someone of his authority to step aside shows they are taking the allegations seriously."

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