Many Australian publishers and journalists will be tried in November for breaking court suppression orders about Cardinal George Pell, when he was convicted of child sex abuse in December 2018. Prosecutors in the state of Victoria say 19 journalists and 21 publications aided and abetted contempt of court by overseas media and breached the trial Read more
Cardinal George Pell has expressed surprise at some of the views about his actions after being severely criticised by the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Pell says the Commission’s views “are not supported by the evidence”. The Commission’s findings were made public in 2017. However, a court redacted the report Read more
Cardinal Pell’s release has a number of influential Catholic figures across Australia expressing concern that the divisive atmosphere stoked by the recent quashing of Pell’s sexual abuse convictions could frustrate hopes for an upcoming once-in-a-generation assembly of the nation’s church. The assembly, a plenary council in preparation for two years and involving the direct input Read more
Victoria’s Attorney-General, Jill Hennessy, says there are no legal impediments to the release of unredacted portions of the findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews says he thinks it’s “very important that those documents be released and that those victims know and understand exactly what was Read more
One of the strange constants of the tumultuous persecution/prosecution of Cardinal George Pell was that, no matter the latest fantastical development, the Holy See Press Office would always express its “utmost respect” for the Australian justice system. At first, this seemed like the routine lies that press offices tell. During the recent visit of the Read more
Police are investigating a new child sex abuse allegation levelled at Australian cardinal, George Pell. The new allegation relates to an incident in the 1970s, when Pell was a priest in Ballarat, Victoria. At a Victoria police media conference on Tuesday this week, deputy commissioner Shane Patton was asked for his response to allegations police Read more
The Vice-Chancellor of the Australian Catholic University, Gregory Craven, says the legal action against Cardinal George Pell was in reality “an atrocious and deeply frightening” campaign run by “The Victorian Police and the ABC”. On Tuesday, sex abuse convictions laid against Cardinal Pell were overturned by Australia’s highest court after he spent 405 days in Read more
Some Australians, including many victims of child sexual abuse, revile George Pell. Others hold him in high esteem. Neither of these groups will have their minds changed about Cardinal Pell, regardless of what any court might determine. The majority of Australians fall into neither camp. Victorian Police In the midst of controversy and with allegations Read more
The verdict on whether to overturn the conviction of Cardinal George Pell will come later, Australia’s highest court said on Thursday. Pell is seeking to appeal the Victoria Appeal Court’s two-to-one decision last year that came down in favour of sustaining his 2018 child sexual abuse conviction. Bret Walker, Pell’s lead barrister, outlined a case Read more
Cardinal George Pell’s final opportunity to have his conviction for sexually abusing two 13-year old choirboys overturned is only a month away. His lawyers will be pleading his case in the High Court of Australia March 11-12. Although the hearing is only weeks away, the full bench of Australia’s highest court — either five or Read more