Australian Cardinal George Pell found guilty of child sex charges

La Croix International
February 26, 2019

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Cardinal George Pell leaves court in Melbourne on March 5, 2018. Photo by Paul Crock

Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican treasurer on leave of absence, has been found guilty of child sex abuse and convicted of five charges in an Australian court case.

Pell was found guilty at a secret trial in Melbourne in December after a five-week trial, but the results of the case were not revealed until Feb. 26.

This was made possible after Chief Judge Peter Kidd lifted a court order banning media coverage of the trial, as Australia's crown prosecutor opted not to proceed with a second trial into more sex allegations against Pell.

The 77-year-old cardinal, who is on leave from his role as treasurer, maintained his innocence this week, despite the jury deeming him culpable of one charge of sexual penetration with a child under the age of 16, and four charges of an indecent act with, or in the presence of, a minor in the late 1990s.

The acts took place from December 1996 to early 1997 at St. Patrick's Cathedral shortly after Pell was inaugurated as Melbourne archbishop.

The jury's decision was unanimous, media reports. Sentencing is due next week, with prison time expected. Pell's legal team said it would appeal.

The disclosure comes after a previous trial on the same five charges dating back to August ended in a hung jury.

Pell, along with two other cardinals, was removed from the pope's council of advisors in December, two days after the hitherto unannounced verdict in the retrial was decided.

Pope Francis had not commented on Pell's conviction as of press time on Feb. 26.

The president of the Australian Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Mark Coleridge, has issued a statement.

"The news of Cardinal George Pell's conviction on historical child sexual abuse charges has shocked many across Australia and around the world, including the Catholic Bishops of Australia. The Bishops agree that everyone should be equal under the law, and we respect the Australian legal system," the statement read.

"The same legal system that delivered the verdict will consider the appeal that the Cardinal's legal team has lodged. Our hope, at all times, is that through this process, justice will be served. In the meantime, we pray for all those who have been abused and their loved ones, and we commit ourselves anew to doing everything possible to ensure that the Church is a safe place for all, especially the young and the vulnerable," it added.

The news of Pell's conviction comes just 10 days after the Vatican said it had removed from the clerical state former American Cardinal Theodore McCarrick after the Vatican found him guilty of sex abuse, and two days after an historic four-day conference of bishops in Rome on the protection of minors and how to deal with future sex abuse allegations.

The case against Pell hinged on the testimony of one man, who claimed the prelate abused him and another boy when he caught the two then-choirboys drinking wine after Mass one Sunday, CNN reports.

The accuser said Pell made one of them perform oral sex on him. The other alleged victim later died of a drug overdose.

UPDATE

Cardinal George Pell has been sent to jail. At the end of a pre-sentence hearing, County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd instructed police officers to "take him away, please." Pell's bail petition has been revoked.

Pell continues to profess his innocence.

Sentencing is expected March 13, but the cardinal's lawyer already has announced plans to appeal the conviction. No date has been set for an appeal hearing.

While an appeal is in process, Pope Francis has confirmed the "precautionary measures" prohibiting Cardinal Pell from publicly exercising his ministry as a priest and from having contact with minors, Alessandro Gisotti, interim director of the Vatican press office, told reporters Feb. 26.

Cardinal Pell was on leave of absence from his post as prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy to return to Australia to face the charges. His five-year term as head of the secretariat expired Feb. 24. Gisotti, in a tweet, confirmed Feb. 26 that Cardinal Pell was no longer prefect of the secretariat.