Vatican Cardinal Pell faces court on sex abuse charges

Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia — Silent but defiant, Cardinal George Pell made his first court appearance in Australia on Wednesday on charges of sexual abuse, vowing through his lawyer to fight the allegations that have rocked Rome and threatened the pope’s image as a crusader against abusive clergy.

Cardinal Pell, Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic and Pope Francis’ top financial adviser, is accused of sexually abusing multiple people years ago in his Australian home state of Victoria, making him the most senior Vatican official ever charged in the Catholic Church sex abuse crisis. Details of the charges have yet to be released to the public, though police have described them as “historical” sexual assault offenses — meaning crimes that occurred years ago.

Cardinal Pell has not yet entered a plea. But on Wednesday, his lawyer told the court that the 76year-old cardinal plans to formally plead not guilty at a future court date.

“For the avoidance of doubt and because of the interest, I might indicate that Cardinal Pell pleads not guilty to all charges and will maintain the presumed innocence that he has,” lawyer Robert Richter told the court.

Cardinal Pell entered the small courtroom dressed in a black suit, face devoid of expression as he took a seat behind his legal team. He said nothing during the hearing, or to the hordes of journalists who swarmed around him as he left the courthouse.

The hearing itself 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 reporters and spectators was anything but.

Though many clerics have faced allegations of sex abuse in recent years, Cardinal Pell is by far the highest-ranking church official ever charged, and his case has shaken the Vatican.

After years of alleged cover-ups and silence from the church over its pedophilia scandal, abuse survivors and their advocates hailed the prosecution of Cardinal Pell as a monumental shift in the way society is responding to the crisis.

So far, Pope Francis has withheld judgment of Cardinal Pell, saying he wants to wait for Australian justice to run its course. And he did not force the cardinal to resign, though Cardinal Pell took an immediate leave of absence so he could return to Australia to fight the charges. Cardinal Pell said he intends to continue his work as a prefect of the church’s economy ministry once the case is resolved.

The cardinal is next expected in court on Oct. 6.