Only a day after former Prime Minister Tony Abbott was seen leaving Melbourne Assessment Prison where convicted paedophile George Pell is currently locked up, we’re having to tell people not to send Pell Christmas cards. Yup, apparently it’s something that needs to be said, seasons greetings probably shouldn’t be extended to people who have abused kids.
Deacon Nick Donnelly is a British author whose Twitter account is called @ProtecttheFaith and has a cover image of George Pell with the word ‘Martyr’ written across it, so that tells you everything you need to know about him.
He tweeted out the address to the prison yesterday with the request that everyone send Pell Christmas cards to show their support and spread some holiday cheer.
He did make a point to tell everybody that you can’t address the envelope to Cardinal Pell though, or it won’t get through to him.
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I did have to wonder if ‘Convicted Paedophile George Pell’ would get through? People in the comments section were suggesting ‘Rockspider Pell’, ‘Pedo Pell’, and ‘devil worshipping child abuser’, all of which I would love to know if the jail would send through.
Anyway.
Clare Leaney is the Chief Executive Officer of Good Faith Foundation, a support group for victims. She said in an interview that the holidays are particularly hard for survivors.
“For a lot of survivors of abuse, there is no holiday period. That’s been taken away from them.”
“These are people that have lost their faith and their connection to the church and I think the festive season reinforces the isolation some people can have.”
Ultimately we should be thinking of the victims in all of this. They’re the ones living with a horrific situation that most of us can’t begin to imagine, and they’re the ones who deserve Christmas cards and public support – despite what Deacons and former Prime Ministers seem to think.
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