Top Vatican cardinal admits the church made “enormous mistakes”

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Australian Cardinal George Pell said on Sunday the Catholic Church made “enormous mistakes” and dismissed cases of sexual abuse of children in “scandalous circumstances”, as he became the highest-ranking Vatican official to testify on Church abuse.

Giving evidence in front of abuse victims in a Rome hotel room, Pell told Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse that children were often not believed and abusive priests shuffled from parish to parish.

“The Church has made enormous mistakes and is working to remedy those, but the Church in many places, certainly in Australia, has mucked things up, has let people down,” Pell said via video link to the commission in Sydney.

“I’m not here to defend the indefensible.”