Pope’s finance chief to stand trial on sexual abuse charges
THE Vatican’s treasurer has become the most senior Catholic figure to be tried on sexual assault charges after a court in Melbourne committed him to stand trial on historical offences involving multiple victims.
Asked how he pleaded, 76-year-old Cardinal George Pell – a trusted aide of Pope Francis – considered third highest ranked figure in the Catholic church, stated firmly and loudly: “Not guilty.”
Belinda Wallington, the magistrate, dismissed half the charges brought against him for lack of evidence or concerns about witness credibility. According to Cardinal Pell’s lawyer, these included the more “vile” allegations.
But Ms Wallington ordered the Cardinal to face a trial by jury for alleged sexual offending at a pool in the Seventies in Ballarat, near Melbourne, and at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne in the Nineties, when he was the city’s Archbishop. After the magistrate left the court, a group of the Cardinal’s critics applauded.
The details of the alleged offences are yet to be revealed. Much of the committal hearing was closed to the public because the allegations were of a sexual nature.
The case follows an explosive report aired on ABC News in 2016 in which two men claimed they were groped by Cardinal Pell in the late Seventies at Eureka pool, Ballarat.
“He would play games, like throw the kids out of the water,” Lyndon Monument, a former student, told ABC.
“You know, his hand touching your genitals and stuff on the outside of your bathers or shorts. And then that slowly became hand down the front of the pants.”
One man who also made allegations, Damian Dignan, died in January after a long illness.
Pope Francis did not ask Cardinal Pell to resign after he was charged and granted him leave to return to Australia to fight the charges. But the decision to proceed with a trial could put pressure on the Vatican for a stronger response.
Pope Francis has recently ruled there is “zero tolerance” for abuse in the Church. Cardinal Pell, who holds a doctorate from Oxford and was formerly a national-level Australian Rules footballer, has been an imposing figure in Australia and has been heavily criticised for his handling of complaints of child sex abuse made against Catholic priests there.
He is known for staunchly conservative views on issues such as homosexuality and abortion, the latter being, he once said, a “worse moral scandal” than child sex abuse by priests.
As rumours swirled about his behaviour, alleged victims began to come forward. Cardinal Pell protested his innocence and left his post in the Vatican to fight the allegations after he was charged in June last year.
Robert Richter QC, his lawyer, told the court in submissions two weeks ago that the complainants might have been seeking to punish the Cardinal for failing to act against abuse by clerics. Campaigners have been critical of Pope Francis, who hand-picked Cardinal Pell to oversee the Vatican’s finances despite the controversy in Australia. But the decision to commit Cardinal Pell for trial was welcomed by victims and campaigners as a vindication of their struggle for action by the justice system.
“George Pell has been committed to trial and the positive that survivors of abuse can take from this case is that nobody is above the law,” said Lisa Flynn, an Australian lawyer who specialises in prosecuting cases for the survivors of historical abuse.
“To the brave few who came forward with your stories … you made someone answerable to your allegations and I hope that vindicates you from your pain,” she added.
Cardinal Pell has been bailed to return to court today for a hearing that is likely to set a trial date. He has previously forfeited his passport and is not allowed to leave Australia.