All roads lead to William St: World awaits Cardinal George Pell's day in court

By Adam Cooper
Sydney Morning Herald
July 24, 2017

http://www.smh.com.au/national/all-roads-lead-to-william-st-world-awaits-cardinal-george-pells-day-in-court-20170724-gxhdde.html

He is one of the highest ranking officials in the Catholic Church, but Cardinal George Pell could find himself rubbing shoulders with drink-drivers, drug users and other accused criminals when he attends court for the first time to answer to historical sex charges.

Melbourne Magistrates Court maintains it will take a business as usual approach to the high-profile case, which means Cardinal Pell could join the queue of accused criminals, solicitors and police waiting to get into the court on Wednesday morning.

Fairfax Media understands the Cardinal will be there on Wednesday morning.

A court spokeswoman confirmed the Cardinal would be required to enter the building through the front door, be scanned by security staff, sit in general seating and have his name read on the daily list.

However, it is likely the scene outside the Magistrates Court on William Street will be anything but usual.

Cardinal Pell is expected to be greeted by a sizeable media pack, from Australia and around the world, and possibly his supporters, abuse survivors, and other onlookers.

Australian media have extensively reported the charges against the Cardinal, as have The New York Times, The Washington Post and other newspapers across the US, the UK and Europe; Time magazine; broadcasters CNN, NBC, the BBC and Al Jazeera.

Those outlets are expected to again report Wednesday's developments.

It is rumoured that one international news outlet will have a dozen journalists and photographers in place to cover the Cardinal's appearance.

The huge interest will likely prompt an increase in police and security, both inside and outside the court.

Victoria Police would not comment when asked about security arrangements.

Cardinal Pell was last month charged on summons with historical sex offences involving multiple complainants. Details of the charges are yet to released. He has denied the alleged offending.

He is not obliged to attend Wednesday's hearing, but said last month he was looking forward to his day in court and flew to Australia from Rome a fortnight later. He has been based in Sydney since arriving on July 10.

The filing hearing is likely to last only a few minutes and will allow the magistrate to set dates for future hearings.

It is not yet clear which magistrate will hear the Cardinal's case, but it is understood neither the Chief Magistrate nor Deputy Magistrate will preside over the matter.

While Cardinal Pell will be guaranteed a seat inside the courtroom, the same cannot be said for everyone with an interest in the case.

The biggest courtroom in the Melbourne Magistrates Court building seats about 80 people, with limited standing room.

There are larger courtrooms in the County and Supreme Court buildings but there are no plans to shift Wednesday's hearing.

If Cardinal Pell were eventually committed to stand trial his case could be heard in a higher court.

The largest courtroom in the County Court building seats about 115 people..

The County Court has already fielded a query from a German television network about accreditation.