Bishop Tim Harris ‘pleased’ George Pell is free but concerned about sexual abuse in the church
The unanimous decision to acquit George Pell of all sexual abuse charges has surprised Townsville Bishop Tim Harris.
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The unanimous decision to acquit George Pell of all sexual abuse charges has surprised Townsville Bishop Tim Harris.
But Bishop Harris would not be celebrating the judgement, conscious of the pain caused by Catholic priests who had been found guilty of sexual abuse.
“I don’t want to be out at the top of the top of Castle Hill cheering, that is not the proper posture,” he said.
Pell, 78, spent 404 days in prison after being found guilty of abusing two choirboys at St Patrick’s Cathedral in the 1990s. That decision was quashed by the High Court, which today ruled the jury’s verdicts, on four counts of indecent assault and one of sexual penetration of a child, were unsafe.
“I’m pleased George Pell can walk freely because justice has been done,” Bishop Harris said.
“From day one I trusted the justice system. I never bagged the justice system.
“I accept the judgment, and I hope George Pell and the church can move on.”
Pell responded to the decision, saying he consistently maintained his innocence “while suffering from a serious injustice”.
“I look forward to reading the Judgment and reasons for the decision in detail,” Pell said.
“I hold no ill will to 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.”
In its unanimous decision the High Court said the majority of Victoria’s Court of Appeal who dismissed Pell’s first appeal “failed to engage with the question of whether there remained a reasonable possibility that the offending had not taken place, such that there ought to have been a reasonable doubt as to the applicant’s guilt”.
The court found unchallenged evidence of opportunity witnesses was inconsistent with the complainant’s evidence.
It meant despite what the jury made of the complainant’s evidence, the unchallenged evidence meant the jury must have had a reasonable doubt.
Bishop Harris said historical instances of sexual abuse by members of the Catholic clergy had damaged the church’s reputation.
He said when Pell was sentenced, it knocked people’s confidence.
“I’m very conscious there have been numerous people … who have suffered. I have always got my thoughts on them,” he said.
“Priests are in prison because they have been found to be truly guilty.
“I think the issue of child abuse generally has caused many people to lose their faith in the Catholic Church.”
Originally published as Bishop Tim Harris ‘pleased’ George Pell is free but concerned about sexual abuse in the church