A man who has accused the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, George Pell, of
sexual abuse will consider his continued participation in an inquiry over the
weekend.
The church has defended its decision not to fund the complainant's legal
representation, arguing it will not be paying for Archbishop Pell's lawyers
either.
The complainant's lawyer, Peter Ward, said earlier today a decision would be
made this afternoon on whether his client would withdraw his case, but he says
a decision now will not be made until next week.
Mr Ward says it is a "silly" decision and if the church does not
change its mind, the inquiry will be unbalanced.
"It could not work," Mr Ward said.
"The process with one party being unrepresented, and that party would have
to cross examine witnesses, call evidence, prepare submissions, prepare
statements and he would be up against the might of a powerful legal team."
Archbishop Pell has denied molesting the man at a church camp more than 40
years ago.