Blow to the Catholic Church As Spotlight Falls on Cardinal Pell

By John Ferguson
The Australian
February 27, 2016

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It was approaching first light in Rome on February 19 when Cardinal George Pell was informed a Victoria Police investigation into sexual abuse allegations against him was about to be made public.

As his team carefully considered the predicament, crowds were starting to gather in the 5C cold for their Vatican pilgrimage. Back in Australia, the attention was turning to the weekend.

For Pell and his closest minders — religious and legal — the response to the claims that he had abused between five and 10 boys was as sharp as an Italian suit.

“The allegations are without foundation and are utterly false,” read the statement published by The Australian that night. “The timing of these leaks is clearly designed to do maximum damage to the cardinal and the Catholic Church and undermines the work of the royal commission.”

The statement was a pre-emptive strike to position Pell ahead of an inevitable media fracas, with the church savaging police for (allegedly) leaking the information.

During that weekend, several of Australia’s most senior Catholics united in support of the Vatican’s Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, the world’s third most powerful leader of the faith.

While being extensive and targeted, the Pell statement told only part of the story.

For many weeks the church had been aware that the police’s Sano Taskforce was circling Pell, executing warrants to search records and locations connected to his past.