Cardinal facing sex charges backed by supporters’ fund
AUSTRALIAN supporters of Cardinal George Pell – who is charged with historical sexual offences – have set up a fund to help pay his legal fees, according to a report.
John Roskam, executive director of the Institute of Public Affairs, a highprofile conservative Australian think tank, said that the Vatican finance chief’s supporters had set up a bank account for donations for a legal team.
Cardinal Pell was ordered to face a Melbourne court on July 26, and has been granted a leave of absence by Pope Francis.
Australia’s Catholic leaders have spo- ken out in support of the cardinal, calling him a “thoroughly decent man”.
The Archdiocese of Sydney said it would help the cardinal with accommodation on his return to Australia, but would not foot his legal bills.
“The point of this [fund] is that there are a lot of people who want to support the cardinal, and want to give him the opportunity to clear his name,” Mr Roskam told Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper.
The pre-eminent cleric rose through the ranks to the highest offices of the church in Australia before managing the Vatican’s powerful economic ministry.
Cardinal Pell said he had been the victim of a campaign of “relentless character assassination”, and vowed to beat the charges and return to work in Rome.
Police have not revealed details of the charges against the 76-year-old.
The Church was further shaken over the weekend after the Pope replaced Catholicism’s top theologian, who has been at odds with the pontiff’s vision of a more inclusive Church.
A brief Vatican statement said Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller’s five-year mandate as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith would not be renewed.