The Catholic Church will not recall abuse survivors for cross-examination before the child sex abuse royal commission hearing in Ballarat.
Commission chair Justice Peter McClellan has made it clear that church figures including Cardinal George Pell will have to answer serious allegations about what they knew about the abuse and when, and some may have findings made against them.
Church counsel have deliberately not cross-examined survivor witnesses in the hearing examining abuse in the Ballarat diocese, saying to do so would almost inevitably exacerbate their distress.
But that does not mean that the church accepts that every last detail of a survivor's recollection is accurate, a letter from church lawyers to the commission this week said.
The letter said the lawyers may now seek to recall some survivor witnesses.
The church parties have decided that no survivor witnesses will be cross-examined, a spokesman for the Catholic Church's Truth Justice and Healing Council said on Friday.
"Despite issues raised by the commission about questioning of survivor witnesses, all church parties confirm they will not be seeking to question survivor witnesses in the Ballarat hearing about any of the evidence that they have given," he said.
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