Cardinal fronts court on sex charges
AUSTRALIA: The most senior Vatican official charged in the Catholic Church sex abuse crisis made his first court appearance in Australia yesterday in a scandal that has stunned the Holy See and threatened to tarnish the Pope’s image as a crusader against abusive clergy.
Cardinal George Pell, Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic and Pope Francis’ top financial adviser, has maintained his innocence since he was charged last month with sexually abusing multiple people years ago in his Australian home state of Victoria.
The details of the allegations against the 76-year-old have yet to be released to the public, though police have described the charges as ‘‘historical’' sexual assault offences – meaning crimes that occurred years ago.
Pell did not say anything during his court appearance or as he left court, surrounded by police and journalists. He has not yet entered a plea. His lawyer Robert Richter told the court Pell planned to plead not guilty.
Pell’s court appearance lasted just minutes and was remarkably routine.
Yet the image of one of the most powerful men in the Catholic Church standing before a cramped courtroom overflowing with journalists and spectators was anything but.
The pedestrian setting of the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court could scarcely have been further in both geography and atmosphere from the hallowed halls of the Vatican, which has been rocked by the charges against Pell.
Though many clerics have faced allegations of sex abuse in recent years, Pell is by far the highest-ranking church official charged.
He entered the courthouse flanked by security guards, and received a smattering of applause from several members of a local parish who attended the hearing to support the cardinal.
The case places both Pell and the Pope in potentially perilous territory. For Pell, the charges are a threat to his freedom, his reputation and his career. For Pope Francis, they are a threat to his credibility, given he famously promised a ‘‘zero tolerance’' policy for sex abuse in the church.
Advocates for abuse victims have long railed against the Pope’s decision to appoint Pell to the highranking position; at the time of his promotion in 2014, Pell was already facing allegations he had mishandled cases of clergy abuse while he was archbishop of Melbourne and, later, Sydney. – AP