His case is considered a “Dreyfus affair” and an unprecedented scandal: a cardinal George Pell did in an interview with the Catholic television station EWTN.TV talked about his conviction for alleged sexual abuse, his time in prison until the sentence was overturned – and why he returned to Rome.
“Well, I suppose I wanted to reaffirm my innocence,” the Australian prelate told Vatican correspondent Colm Flynn, “und I really wanted to see the Holy Father, thank him for his support “.
On March 13, 2019, the prominent prelate and former was Economic Prefect of the Vatican sentenced to six years in prison in a trial that even determined opponents of Pell and the Church had described as scandalous.
A jury had decided that the cleric in Melbourne Cathedral in 1996 should have two choirboys sexually abused have – with the door open in the sacristy, directly after Holy Mass, contrary to the statements of 20 eyewitnesses and without a single proof. The jury believed the – partly contradicting – statements of one of the two alleged victims, and that, although even the second alleged victim, meanwhile died, had denied the alleged act before his death.
An appeals court in Melbourne upheld this judgment on August 21, 2019 – against the vote of one of the three judges, the renowned lawyer Mark Weinberg. Pell was released on April 7, 2020 after the chief judges of Australia unanimously and with immediate effect overturned the guilty verdict – as demanded by Mark Weinberg and a petition of over 100,000 signatures, among others.
The case shook the universal Church as well as the Australian judiciary, as CNA German reported.
“One of the interesting things in Rome was that even my ‘ideological enemies’ didn’t believe that I was guilty: they knew what it was like in a large cathedral on Sundays after mass,” Pell said in an interview.
“Many people in Australia, even some of those who have helped me, imagine churches to be small and empty; they say that there will be nobody after mass. But in a cathedral there are hundreds of people at mass on Sunday: 50 in the choir, 15 acolytes, half a dozen in the sacristy – and then the visitors to the Mass … The accusation that under these circumstances I had two youngsters whom I did not know – and of whom nobody said that I was them would have known – should have molested is completely absurd. “
A scapegoat for the church crisis?
He “really had the feeling that the devil was at work in the crimes that the abuse crisis brought to light,” Pell said in an interview.
“And I think the hatred of the Church, the real outrage people felt at these crimes, then went so far that people needed a scapegoat. My friends told me that opponents even said of me in the courtroom.” have: ‘Maybe he’s innocent – but the church deserves to be punished for the terrible things that have been done and the way they have been dealt with.’ “
When asked how he received the news that Pope Francis had removed Cardinal Angelo Becciu from his offices, Pell replied:
“I made a little statement about this: I said that I hope the ‘purge process’ will continue in my state of Victoria as well as in the Vatican. But I have to say: I think Becciu has a right to a process. Like everyone else, he has a right to due process. So we’ll see how it goes on. “
With view on Church crisis, in Ireland and much of the world – Pell demands a ruthless explanation – and shows great confidence.
“We must face the shameful facts. And we must not forget that we are preaching the message of Christ, the teaching of Christ. You must not just look at what makes the headlines, what the anti-religious press says. You have to get into the Take a look, so see what we have done in history: One must not forget how much the Church has done for the good of humanity – it is an enormous amount. ”
“We also have a glorious history, one mustn’t forget that. I would tell young people: Look at what Christ said. Read the Gospel. Because Christ is the one they have to follow – not the ex-Archbishop of Melbourne or Sydney “.
The whole interview – in which he talks about his prison diaries, the financial scandal and finally his Australian sense of humor – See here.
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