AUSTRALIA
9 News
By Brett McLeod
If, as expected, George Pell walks into the Melbourne Magistrates Court this morning, he will make history.
Never before has a Cardinal appeared in a courtroom to answer charges of sex offences. Not in Melbourne, not in Australia, not anywhere else in the world.
Unless special arrangements are made the third-highest ranked member of the Catholic Church – the man dubbed the Vatican’s Accountant – will enter via the front steps, where he will encounter a media contingent which may well be larger than any ever seen on William Street.
While reports of swarms of international media being flown by the planeload into Melbourne are probably overstated, there’s likely to be little room for the Cardinal to walk through the phalanx of cameras and microphones.
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