'Cardinal tried to bribe me'

Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell. Photo / Getty Images

Cardinal George Pell tried to bribe a victim of paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale, an Australian royal commission has heard.

David Ridsdale, the nephew of Australia's worst paedophile priest, says he told Pell in 1993 about the abuse at the hands of his uncle.

He told the royal commission into child abuse yesterday that Pell, a family friend, asked him: "I want to know what it will take to keep you quiet."

Ridsdale said Pell started talking about his growing family and that he might soon have to buy a car or house.

He said his response was "f*** you George and everything you stand for".

After he hung up, Ridsdale said he told his sisters about the phone conversation. "I remember saying to both my sisters: 'The bastard just tried to bribe me'."

Commission chairman Justice Peter McClellan says Pell will be required to make a statement about the claims.

Church counsel Peter Gray SC said Pell, now the finance chief at the Vatican, has publicly and repeatedly said his recollection of the conversation is quite different.

- AAP