End ‘unjust’ sentences, prays Pope

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis, speaking just a few hours after Australia’s highest court acquitted Cardinal George Pell of sexually assaulting two choirboys, yesterday offered his morning Mass for those who are suffering from unjust sentences.

The court quashed convictions that Cardinal Pell sexually assaulted the two teenagers in the 1990s and allowed the 78-year-old former Vatican economy minister to walk free from jail, ending the most high profile case of alleged historical sex abuse to rock the Roman Catholic Church.

Each morning at the Mass in his residence, Pope Francis chooses an intention for the service, such as remembering the poor, the homeless or the sick.

“I would like to pray today for all those people who suffer unjust sentences resulting from intransigence [against them],” he said, speaking extemporaneously at the start of the Mass. Pope Francis did not mention Cardinal Pell by name.

In recent weeks, the pope’s intentions for nearly all of his daily Masses have related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Pope Francis compared the suffering of those inflicted with unjust sentences today to the way Jewish community elders persecuted Jesus with “obstinacy and rage even though he was innocent”.

The Vatican had no immediate comment on the verdict, which comes in the lead up to Easter, the most important day in the Christian calendar.

Pope Francis, who appointed Pell to overhaul the Vatican’s vast finances in 2014, has said he would comment only after all avenues of appeal had been exhausted.

It wasn’t clear if the pope would make a personal statement.