The High Court of Australia has ruled that families of alleged abuse victims—and not only the victims themselves—may sue the nation’s dioceses for damages.
The father of a deceased young man who claimed he was abused by the late Cardinal George Pell has waged a legal battle to be able to sue the Archdiocese of Melbourne for damages. The High Court’s ruling, which permits the father to sue the archdiocese for the “nervous shock” he experienced, comes four years after the High Court overturned the abuse convictions against the cardinal.