George Pell: 'I hope that my appearance here has contributed a bit to healing' - royal commission as it happened
The Guardian
Melissa Davey
3 March 2016
Pell must stand down – Manny Waks
In 1988, when he was 11 years old, Manny Waks was abused by a member of the Orthodox Jewish Yeshivah centre known only to the commission as AVP. The man abused Waks multiple times. When he was 12 another Yeshivah staff member, security guard David Cyprys, began sexually abusing him.
At a press conference in Rome, Waks said he had just arrived in Italy because he felt compelled to support the Catholic survivors. Waks gave evidence to the commission during its hearings last year into the Yeshivah centres. Waks told reporters a couple of minutes ago:
I’m here on behalf of the Jewish community. I’ve been watching the ongoing developments over the last few days and nights from Israel. I felt compelled to come over here personally, I’ve just gotten off the flight an hour ago and to stand in support of these courageous survivors and their families.
As we know, this issue crosses borders. It’s not unique to any religion and we need to address it robustly and there are no excuses and there is – this is the time for no more silence. As a member of the Jewish community, as a leader of the Jewish community, there are hundreds if not thousands of Jews around the world who have contacted me and asked me to personally convey this message publicly and to the survivors and the families themselves.
From my perspective personally I would say that Cardinal Pell must resign from his position. If he was aware of some of those issues that went on back then, clearly he’s culpable. If he didn’t know of what was going on, then he’s incompetent. If he’s not going to do that for the victims and the survivors, then he should do that for itself.
You can read my interview with Waks from last year here.
Originally published at The Guardian.
In 1988, when he was 11 years old, Manny Waks was abused by a member of the Orthodox Jewish Yeshivah centre known only to the commission as AVP. The man abused Waks multiple times. When he was 12 another Yeshivah staff member, security guard David Cyprys, began sexually abusing him.
At a press conference in Rome, Waks said he had just arrived in Italy because he felt compelled to support the Catholic survivors. Waks gave evidence to the commission during its hearings last year into the Yeshivah centres. Waks told reporters a couple of minutes ago:
I’m here on behalf of the Jewish community. I’ve been watching the ongoing developments over the last few days and nights from Israel. I felt compelled to come over here personally, I’ve just gotten off the flight an hour ago and to stand in support of these courageous survivors and their families.
As we know, this issue crosses borders. It’s not unique to any religion and we need to address it robustly and there are no excuses and there is – this is the time for no more silence. As a member of the Jewish community, as a leader of the Jewish community, there are hundreds if not thousands of Jews around the world who have contacted me and asked me to personally convey this message publicly and to the survivors and the families themselves.
From my perspective personally I would say that Cardinal Pell must resign from his position. If he was aware of some of those issues that went on back then, clearly he’s culpable. If he didn’t know of what was going on, then he’s incompetent. If he’s not going to do that for the victims and the survivors, then he should do that for itself.
You can read my interview with Waks from last year here.
Originally published at The Guardian.