BBC News is reporting that the Court has quashed Cardinal Pell's sexual abuse conviction. No other details yet so I don't know whether that's the end of it. Thanks be to God.
The court has ordered a verdict of acquittal. Here's a link to Edward Pentin's Twitter feed with the full judgement of the High Court: https://twitter.com/EdwardPentin/status/1247317193458692099
Yes, Cdl Pell is now a FREE man once again. His name will also be removed from the Australian sex offenders registry!!
Thank God. Have kept Cdl Pell in prayer ever since we heard of his arrest. Please God those who look for any means possible to condemn an innocent man will give up and find some other form of entertainment. God bless you Cdl Pell, you have been a model of patience and humility. May God be Glorified in His faithful servants. Amen
Oh thank you God. During Holy Week and such a hard time for so many of us a ray of sunshine and Hope.
Blessed be the name of Jesus. Cardinal says a “serious injustice” has now been remedied Cardinal George Pell says he holds no ill will towards his accuser and has thanked his family, friends and supporters after the unanimous decision of the High Court of Australia to quash his convictions for historical sex abuse offences. The decision was delivered in Brisbane at 10am by Chief Justice Susan Kiefel. It comes almost three-years after the cardinal was charged with historical sexual abuse offences. “I hold no ill will toward my accuser, I do not want my acquittal to add to the hurt and bitterness so many feel; there is certainly hurt and bitterness enough,” said the cardinal in a statement. “However my trial was not a referendum on the Catholic Church; nor a referendum on how Church authorities in Australia dealt with the crime of paedophilia in the Church. “The point was whether I had committed these awful crimes, and I did not.” Cardinal Pell appealed to the High Court after the Victorian Court of Appeal last August dismissed his appeal against his December 2018 conviction. The High Court ruled the jury’s verdicts, on four counts of indecent assault and one of sexual penetration of a child, were unsafe. In a two-page statement, the full seven member bench of the High Court said it had found that “the jury, acting rationally on the whole of the evidence, out to have entertained a doubt as to the applicant’s guilt with respect to each of the offences for which he was convicted, and ordered that the convictions be quashed and that verdicts of acquittal be entered in their place”. “With respect to each of the applicant’s convictions, there was, consistently…’a significant possibility that an innocent person has been convicted because the evidence did not establish guilt to the requisite standard of proof,” it concluded. The cardinal is set to be released from Barwon Prison, near Geelong, imminently. Cardinal Pell, 78, strenuously maintained his innocence throughout, and served more than 12 months – 404 days – of a six-year jail term. He was charged in 2017 following a lengthy police investigation, which included the unprecedented step for advertising for potential allegations. The Cardinal returned from Rome where he was the Prefect of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy, effectively the Vatican’s treasurer charged with reforming the Vatican curia and finances by Pope Francis. Full statement from Cardinal George Pell I have consistently maintained my innocence while suffering from a serious injustice. This has been remedied today with the High Court’s unanimous decision. I look forward to reading the Judgment and reasons for the decision in detail. I hold no ill will toward my accuser, I do not want my acquittal to add to the hurt and bitterness so many feel; there is certainly hurt and bitterness enough. However my trial was not a referendum on the Catholic Church; nor a referendum on how Church authorities in Australia dealt with the crime of paedophilia in the Church. The point was whether I had committed these awful crimes, and I did not. The only basis for long term healing is truth and the only basis for justice is truth, because justice means truth for all. A special thanks for all the prayers and thousands of letters of support. I want to thank in particular my family for their love and support and what they had to go through; my small team of advisors; those who spoke up for me and suffered as a result; and all my friends and supporters here and overseas. Also my deepest thanks and gratitude to my entire legal team for their unwavering resolve to see justice prevail, to throw light on manufactured obscurity and to reveal the truth. Finally, I am aware of the current health crisis. I am praying for all those affected and our medical frontline personnel. Cardinal George Pell
Praise and thanks be to God! Thanks to Mother Mary for her intercession too. So happy for the answered prayers +
I really admire the Cardinal's courage through all this. If someone had suggested I was a child abuser, never mind sending me to jail , I would have curled up in a ball and died. But Cardinal Pell has been like a Roaring Lion. So admirable. But the attitude of the media ,especially the BBC has been horrific..kind of , 'He was probably guilty but got off anyway on technical grounds ', variety. I'd love to see him take them all to court for libel. He probably won't but I 'd just love to see him do it. Anyway thank God. Poor man. Interesting to see what the Vatican does now. Welcome him back with open arms? Don't hold your breath.
The Church Cardinal Pell loves has changed greatly since the Cardinal was sentenced to 18 months in prison. It will be interesting to see if Cardinal Pell will now be supportive of the Cardinals and Bishops who are urging us to keep the traditional Faith of our fathers, and pray God brings us all through these times safely in the hearts of Jesus and Mary. Thank God, the salvation of our immortal souls does not hinge on our ability to discern correctly who the Judas's are and who the faithful friends of Jesus are in these times. We know all we have to do is, 'Keep Watch and Pray.'
A unanimous verdict. The perfect counter to the various travesties of justice inflicted upon this innocent man. Spare a thought and a little prayer for the dissenting judge, Mark Weinstein, in the Court of Appeal, whose rousing counter-argument against the cardinal's conviction was, I've heard, instrumental in enabling the latter to gain a hearing in the High Court.
First and foremost, Thanks be to God on High. Thank you Mother Mary for keeping Cardinal Pell safe within thy mantle. Secondly and sadly I wonder how hard Pope Francis slapped his forehead and asked himself "what am I to do with Pell now?" cus we know he is officially stuck with Pell. Thirdly, prayers for both Pell' s continued protection and for Pope Francis's conversion. Oh Blessed Morning Star without the stain of sin pray for us, who have recoursed to thee.
