Cardinal George Pell. Cardinal George Pell was acquitted of all convictions of child abuse by Australia’s Supreme Court following claims “bias media” and a legal system “disaster” was to blame for his initial conviction.
The former Vatican treasurer walked free from jail this week after convictions relating to the sexual assault of two teenage choirboys in the 1990s were quashed.
Cardinal Pell was charged by police in June 2017. Following an initial trial that lasted for four weeks last August and September that resulted in a hung jury, a second trial last November resulted in a unanimous guilty verdict.
Campaign
Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Irish priest Fr Brendan Purcell who is based in Sydney and has known Cardinal Pell for 20 years, criticised the police who dealt with his case and said there was a “media campaign” against him.
“So many people have been victims of media cam
paigns against Cardinal Pell, it’s hard to find anyone who didn’t have an opinion about him.”
Regarding the decision by the Supreme Court, Fr Purcell said: “It was a justification of the Australian justice system, just in time, because it was just a disaster up to now.”
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