Pope decries 'unjust sentences' after Cardinal Pell acquitted of sex abuse

Cardinal George Pell arrives at the County Court in Melbourne, Australia. Australia's highest court has dismissed the convictions of the most senior Catholic found guilty of child sex abuse. Picture: Andy Brownbill/AP

Cardinal George Pell arrives at the County Court in Melbourne, Australia. Australia's highest court has dismissed the convictions of the most senior Catholic found guilty of child sex abuse. Picture: Andy Brownbill/AP

Published Apr 7, 2020

Share

Vatican City - Pope Francis, speaking

just a few hours after Australia's highest court acquitted

Cardinal George Pell of sexual abuse, on Tuesday offered his

morning Mass for those who suffer today from unjust sentences.

The court quashed convictions that Pell sexually assaulted

the two choir boys 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, 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),"

Francis said, speaking before the start of the Mass. Francis did

not mention Pell by name.

In recent weeks, the pope's intentions for nearly all of his

daily Masses have been related to the coronavirus pandemic.

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 on Pell,

which comes in the middle of Holy Week, the period leading up to

Easter, the most important day in the Christian calendar.

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.

At 78, three years past the age at which bishops and Vatican

officials normally hand in their resignation, Pell is not

expected to return to a Holy See job.

Pell had been on a leave of absence from the post, whose

formal title is Prefect for the Secretariat of the Economy,

since 2017. Last year, the pope named a successor, Spanish

Jesuit priest Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves.

An official Vatican comment was expected later on Tuesday

and it was not clear if the pope would make a specific personal

statement.

In its report on the decision, the official Vatican News

website recalled that Pell had always maintained his innocence

and his right to defend himself until all levels of justice were

exhausted. 

Reuters

Related Topics: