Photo James Ross/AAP |
George Pell will consider taking his case to the High Court [of Australia], after Victoria's Court of Appeal upheld his child-sex convictions in a majority ruling on Wednesday, meaning he will serve out his six-year prison term.
In a 2-1 ruling, the Court of Appeal upheld the verdicts of the County Court jury that found Pell guilty on five child sex abuse charges last December, over his attacks on two choirboys at St Patrick's Cathedral in East Melbourne in the 1990s, when he was archbishop of Melbourne.
Apelacja odrzucona - pch24.pl
"The Catholic archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, has released a statement very different in tone from the ones we’ve seen from Victoria and the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. Fisher opens by saying Pell “has strenuously maintained his innocence” from the outset and “continues to do so notwithstanding today’s decision”.
He predicts the Vatican “may well wait until the appeal process has been exhausted”. He calls the judge’s ruling a “split decision” and says that’s “consistent with the differing views of the juries in the first and second trials, as well as the divided opinion amongst legal commentators and the general public”.
Fisher continued:Reasonable people have taken different views when presented with the same evidence and I urge everyone to maintain calm and civility.As the Cardinal may yet decide to appeal the judgment to the High Court of Australia, I am limited in my ability to comment on today’s outcome. Matters of the Cardinal’s status within the Church can only be determined by the Vatican, not the Church in Australia. I anticipate that the Holy See may well wait until the appeal process has been exhausted.
I recommit myself and the Archdiocese of Sydney to doing all we can to ensure that past crimes are never repeated and that Church environments are the safest possible for children and vulnerable adults.I pray for and will continue to support survivors of child sexual abuse at the hands of clergy and other members of the Catholic Church so that they may find justice and healing - Fisher stated.- I again say how sorry I am that you were harmed by people you should have been able to trust. I am conscious how you and your loved ones have had to live with the consequences of abuse for a lifetime.
Fisher added: I know that there are many in the Catholic community and beyond who will find it difficult to come to terms with this judgment, especially those who know the Cardinal and will struggle to reconcile this outcome with the man they know. I thank them for persevering in faith, hope and love.
Sources:
The Age -pell appeal fails
ABC George Pell LIVE appeal
The Independent - Conviction upheld | 
