Pell pleased to finally have his day in court
CARDINAL George Pell is vehemently declaring his innocence and vows to fight to clear his name after being charged with historical sex offences.
The 76-year-old cardinal became the most senior Catholic charged with sex offences yesterday.
Victoria Police announced the Cardinal is facing multiple charges relating to multiple victims, and must return to front court in Melbourne on July 26.
Addressing the world’s media from the Vatican, the Cardinal said: “I am innocent of these charges. They are false. The whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me.”
Pope Francis had granted him a leave of absence as head of the Vatican’s finances to fight the charges, he added.
And he vowed to return to Rome.
The Pope also praised Cardinal Pell’s “honesty” and “energetic dedication” during his three years of work in the Roman Curia.
But the Cardinal’s public duties would cease immediately he added with the cardinal missing yesterday’s St Peter and Paul feast mass.
The police did not release
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any detail on the charges, but some of the alleged offending coincides with the Cardinal’s time at the St Alipius parish, where he lived with notorious paedophile Gerald Ridsdale.
Cardinal Pell slammed the charges, saying: “These matters have been under investigation now for nearly two years.
“There have been leaks to the media, relentless character assassination and, for more than a month, claims that a decision on laying charges is ‘imminent’.
“I am looking forward finally to having my day in court.”
He added that he had spoken
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to his lawyers about when he needed to return to Melbourne and consulted doctors about the long-haul journey.
Last year he was declared too ill to travel from Rome to Melbourne to personally attend the child abuse Royal Commission.
But the Cardinal said he was now desperate to prove his innocence.
“I have kept Pope Francis regularly informed throughout this lengthy process, and have spoken to him in recent days about the need to take leave to clear my name,” he said.
“News of these charges strengthens my resolve, and court proceedings now offer me an opportunity to clear my name and then return to my work in Rome.”
Catholic leaders publicly threw their support behind the Cardinal but were said to have been left privately “distressed” by the charges.
Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher described the Cardinal as a “man of integrity”. But he said the Archdiocese would not pay Pell’s legal bills arising from the charges.
Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton defended Victoria Police’s handling of the case.
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