Archbishop did not act on abuse: Pell

Cardinal George Pell says his predecessor as Melbourne archbishop did not act on child abuse when he should have.

Cardinal Pell said he was strongly critical of and deeply disturbed by what came out about the handling of complaints by Frank Little, who was Archbishop of Melbourne from 1974 to 1996.

"Archbishop Little on some occasions did not act when he should have and certainly did not make appropriate information available to the personnel advisory board on some occasions," Cardinal Pell told the commission from Rome.

Cardinal George Pell said Bishop Little had a "blind spot" when it came to handling complaints about sexual abuse by priests.

The bishop did not reveal there was a long list of complaints about one priest, when Cardinal Pell had sought advice when he was auxiliary bishop in the Melbourne archdiocese in the 1980s.

"I have to say that I am strongly critical of it," he said of Archbishop Little's handling of complaints about Sunbury parish priest Father Peter Searson.

Cardinal Pell said he only discovered recently someone had prepared a one-and-a-half page list of infractions by Searson.

He said he was never told about the list or knew the seriousness of the matters involved.

Cardinal Pell was critical that Archbishop Little had concealed information and allowed priests to either remain in place or transfer.

The commission heard Archbishop Little did not investigate after receiving a letter telling him children in the parish had been warned not to attend Searson's office unless accompanied by an adult or another child.

Archbishop Little resigned four years early, Cardinal Pell said.

He suspected part of the reason was "the way he handled paedophilia cases".