Quashed: Pope Francis decries ‘unjust’ sentences against ‘innocent’ people, hours after George Pell walked free

Pope Francis has decried the persecution of ‘innocent’ people, hours after Cardinal George Pell walked free from prison.

George Pell meets with Pope Francis during a Papal Audience with Cardinals.

Pope Francis has decried “unjust” sentences against “innocent” people, hours after Australian Cardinal George Pell walked free from prison following the quashing of his conviction for child sex abuse.

The High Court on Tuesday freed George Pell in a stunning repudiation of the Victorian judicial system and police force, which pursued Aust­ralia’s most senior Catholic for years over sex abuse allegations.

The seven-member full bench ruled unanimously that the cardinal should be acquitted of all five sex abuse ­convictions, questioning the decision-making of the majority members of the Victorian Court of Appeal who upheld the jury’s verdict last year.

The Vatican said it “welcomed” the court’s decision, pointing out that 78-year-old Pell had steadfastly maintained his innocence throughout a lengthy court process.

“In these days of Lent, we’ve been witnessing the persecution that Jesus underwent and how He was judged ferociously, even though He was innocent,” the Pope said on Twitter.

“Let us pray together today for all those persons who suffer due to an unjust sentence because someone had it in for them,” he said, without making any direct reference to Pell.

In these days of #Lent, we've been witnessing the persecution that Jesus underwent and how He was judged ferociously, even though He was innocent. Let us #PrayTogether today for all those persons who suffer due to an unjust sentence because of someone had it in for them.

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) April 7, 2020

A statement from the Holy See press office, issued on Tuesday night, said: “The Holy See, which has always expressed confidence in the Australian judicial author­ity, welcomes the High Court’s unanimous decision concerning Cardinal George Pell, acquitting him of the accusations of abuse of minors and overturning his sentence. Entrusting his case to the court’s justice, Cardinal Pell has ­always maintained his innocence, and has waited for the truth to be ascertained.”

Several Barwon Prison inmates cheered Cardinal Pell as news filter­ed through the cells just after 10am, with the High Court directly contradicting decisions by Court of Appeal Chief Justice Anne Ferguso­n and President Chris Maxwell.

Raising questions about the evidence of the complainant behind the 1996 and 1997 allegations, the High Court also demolished the police case against Cardinal Pell, who was the third-highest ranking member of the Vatican before he was sentenced to six years in prison.

Cardinal Pell was spending his first night as a free man in 405 days at a Carmelite monastery in Melbourne’s inner east on Tuesday, having declare­d for the first time publicly since being jailed that he had been wronged.

Cardinal George Pell peers through the front window of the car that took him from Barwon prison on Tuesday after his convictions were quashed. Picture: Mark Stewart

“The point was whether I had committed these awful crimes, and I did not,” he said. “The only basis for long-term healing is truth and the only basis for justice is truth, because justice means truth for all. I have consistently maintained my innocence while suffering from a serious injustice.

“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.’’

Australia’s highest level of ­clergy welcomed the High Court’s decision­ while also acknowledging the suffering of abuse victims. The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference released a statement saying many people had believed in Cardinal Pell’s innocence throughout the process. Its president, Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge, said the conference also recognised the court’s decision would be devastating for others.

“Many have suffered greatly through the process, which has now reached its conclusion,” Archbishop Coleridge said. “The result … does not change the church’s unwavering commitment to child safety and to a just and compassionate response to survivors and victims of child sexual abuse.”

Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli said the case had been an intense and painful time for all of those personally involved, those who had experienced abuse and for the Catholic community in Melbourne. He acknowledged that Cardinal Pell had steadfastly maintained his innocence throughout the legal proceedings.

“This decision means the cardinal was wrongly convicted and imprisone­d, and he is now free to live his life peaceably within the community,” he said.

Cardinal Pell spent every day in prison in solitary confinement and was said to be anxious to say Mass and contemplate his next steps.

He left prison shortly after 12.30pm and was photographed walking slowly through the Kew monastery an hour later, first offerin­g his hand to a nun but then withdrawing it amid the worldwide coronavirus outbreak.

Cardinal Pell is being counselled about how to respond to some of his fiercest critics — ­including possible defamation proceedings — and lawyers for him may be asked to examine ­compensation amid legal bills that have run into many millions of dollars.

Cardinal Pell is believed still to have some possessions in Rome, which he left in 2017 to face multiple charges of sexual abuse, including the Melbourne cathedral and Ballarat swimming pool allegations.

The High Court quashed the cardinal’s convictions based in large part on the weight of evidence suggesting it was not possible for the offending to have occurred because of the regimented processes that were in place after Solemn Mass was held in Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral in 1996 and 1997.

There was a critical five- to six-minute period where the offending was alleged to have occurred, but evidence suggested this was not possible, creating doubt around the convictions. This evidence was part of the so-called compounding improbabilities, where a series of church officials including Monsignor Charles Portelli gave evidence casting doubt on Cardinal Pell’s ability to offend due to a lack of time and weight of numbers in the cathedral.

“The High Court found that the jury, acting rationally on the whole of the evidence, ought 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,’’ the bench said.

The court was critical of the manner in which justices Ferguson and Maxwell of the Victorian Court of Appeal ruled in their majority verdict, arguing there was doubt around the convictions but that only judge Mark Weinberg had filed a dissenting judgment.

It found that the majority VCA judges had given too much weight to the complainant’s evidence without properly weighing the significant amount of evidence from church officials that suggested there should have been a doubt.

The High Court noted that Justice Weinberg had not been so enamoured with the complainant’s evidence. “The division in the Court of Appeal in the assessment of (the complainant’s) credibility may be thought to underscore the highly subjective nature of demeanour-based judgments,’’ it ruled.

The court said that while the majority judges had been impressed by the complainant having described the priests’ sacristy, where the offending allegedly occurred, this was not significant.

Cardinal Pell is likely to return soon to Sydney. It is likely that some victims of Catholic abuse will seek to include him in any civil legal actions. It is not known whether police are investigating any other criminal charges against him.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott said the he retained his support for the cardinal, declaring: “Let the judgment speak for itself.’’

Scott Morrison said the highest court in Australian had ruled “and it must be respected’’.

Victoria Police said: “We respect the decision of the High Court in this matter and continue to provide support to those complainants involved.’’

Victorian Premier Dan Andrews said: “I have a message for every single victim and survivor of child sex abuse: I see you. I hear you. I believe you.”

The father of the dead choirboy who was allegedly abused by Cardinal Pell was furious. “The man he believes is responsible for sexually abusing his son was convicted by a unanimous jury only to have that decision overturned today,” his lawyer said.