Dear Editor: I can believe that Cardinal Pell’s accuser was abused in church as a child, but not by the cardinal and not on that date either. The accuser’s life deteriorated shortly after the incident, he quit the cathedral school, started to take drugs, etc.

However, sexual predation victims have accused the cardinal of having handled abuse cases inconsistently and inadequately. They have also said that the cardinal’s statements lacked empathy and transparency when testifying before the Australian Royal Commission in 2015 concerning sexual abuse by the clergy in Ballarat in the 1970s.

I understand he went to court in 1993 with notorious pedophile priest Gerald Risdale for a hearing. Cardinal Pell, who had shared a house with the pedophile priest, denied knowing about any of Risdale’s ways.

Josephine Harkay

Jamaica, Queens