Cardinal George Pell knew a priest was moved because he had sexually abused children and should have done more about an unstable priest in another Victorian parish, a royal commission has found.
The child abuse royal commission rejected Cardinal Pell's evidence that he was deceived and lied to by Catholic Church officials about Australia's worst pedophile priest, Gerald Ridsdale, and Melbourne parish priest Peter Searson.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse findings related to Cardinal Pell's knowledge of abuse allegations while a Ballarat priest and Melbourne bishop in the 1970s and 1980s.
Cardinal Pell was one of a number of senior church officials criticised over their handling of abuse complaints or allegations against numerous priests and Christian Brothers in the Melbourne archdiocese and Diocese of Ballarat.
The catastrophic failures were led by the 1974-1996 Melbourne archbishop Frank Little and the 1971-1997 Ballarat bishop Ronald Mulkearns.
Ridsdale was repeatedly moved between parishes by Bishop Mulkearns, who knew about his offending.
Cardinal Pell has said he does not expect the findings to be bad for him. Source: AAP
The commission rejected Cardinal Pell's claim that Bishop Mulkearns lied to or deceived his advisers in 1982 when Ridsdale was removed from the parish of Mortlake, where the priest later admitted his behaviour was "out of control".
Carindal Pell gave evidence the bishop did not give the true reason for Ridsdale's removal and lied by not doing so.
"Cardinal Pell's evidence that 'paedophilia was not mentioned' and the 'true' reason was not given is not accepted," the commission said.
The commission also rejected Cardinal Pell's evidence he was deceived by Melbourne Catholic education officials because they did not tell him what they knew about Searson's behaviour.
The findings were released on Thursday after the High Court last month overturned Cardinal Pell's child abuse convictions, although redacted versions of the two reports were initially published in December 2017.
Cardinal George Pell leaves the County Court in Melbourne, Australia, 26 February 2019. Source: AAP
Previously blacked-out information in two Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse reports was published after being tabled in federal parliament.
A spokesperson for Cardinal Pell released a statement on Thursday afternoon, which said he was "surprised by some of the views of the royal commission" and they were "not supported by the evidence".
"He [Cardinal Pell] is especially surprised by the statements in the report about the earlier transfers of Gerald Ridsdale discussed by the Ballarat Diocesan Consultors in 1977 and 82.
"The Consultors who gave evidence on the meetings in 1977 and 1982 either said they did not learn of Ridsdale's offending against children until much later or they had no recollection of what was discussed.
"None said they were made aware of Ridsdale's offending at these meetings.
"The then Fr Pell left the Diocese of Ballarat and therefore his position as a consultor at the end of 1984."
Phil Nagle, a child sexual abuse survivor from Ballarat who gave evidence as part of the royal commission, told SBS News he was "relieved" that the full findings were now public.
"There's no way a guy in that situation, especially a smart man, an intelligent man like Cardinal Pell didn't know something was going on,” Mr Nagle said.
"This just confirms what us survivors have always thought."
Mr Nagle was one of a number survivors flown to Rome to witness Cardinal Pell's second testimony to the royal commission in 2016. He had also given evidence from Sydney in 2014.
"After going there and hearing it all and then getting a redacted statement, it didn't make sense. But now it actually flows when you read through it ... and confirms what we knew," he said.
The former Vatican treasurer and Melbourne and Sydney archbishop was released from a Victorian prison on 7 April after the High Court overturned his five abuse convictions.
Phil Nagle in Rome in 2016. Source: AP
The royal commission's separate reports into the Catholic Church's response to abuse complaints and allegations in the Melbourne archdiocese and Victoria's Ballarat diocese were released in December 2017.
Both had sections blacked out to avoid prejudicing any current or future prosecutions, including the abuse case against Cardinal Pell.
The royal commission findings do not relate to abuse allegations against Cardinal Pell, but rather his knowledge of and response to complaints against priests and Christian Brothers in the 1970s and 1980s.
In 2016, Cardinal Pell told the royal commission he was deceived about pedophile priests in "a world of crimes and cover-ups".
Cardinal Pell was a Ballarat priest from 1973 until 1984, overseeing the diocese's schools and at times acting as an adviser to the bishop.
He also served as one of the Melbourne archbishop's advisers while an auxiliary bishop between 1987 and 1996.
Additional reporting: AAP
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