Pope Francis backs George Pell against sex abuse ‘gossip’

Pope Francis says there are doubts about sexual assault allegations against George Pell and says he will not act based on gossip.

Cardinal George Pell in Rome. Picture: Ella Pellegrini

Pope Francis has declared there are doubts about sexual assault ­allegations against George Pell and warned he would not act against him on the basis of gossip and media innuendo.

Speaking on the papal jet, the Pope has given apparently solid support for Cardinal Pell as police wade through up to eight complaints of alleged wrongdoing.

The Australian has not seen any public evidence that would lead to charges but police chief commissioner Graham ­Ashton has warned that Victoria Police is considering prosecuting him.

Pope Francis said: “There are doubts.’’

According to reports from the plane, the Pope then referred to the Latin term “In dubio pro reo’’, which effectively means people cannot be convicted when there are doubts about whether offences have been committed.

While the Pope has urged caution in judging Cardinal Pell, it is not clear what the Vatican would do if the child sex abuse royal commission found against him or ­attacked his actions.

Some members of the church hierarchy in Australia do not ­believe Cardinal Pell performed strongly during his recent ­evidence to the royal commission from Rome.

But en route from Poland to Rome, the Pope urged: “We must avoid a media verdict, a verdict based on gossip.’’

His comments come after the ABC last week aired unsubstantiated allegations from two Melbourne men that they had been molested by Cardinal Pell in the late 1970s at a Ballarat pool. These allegations are highly unlikely to lead to criminal charges against Cardinal Pell but there are reportedly six other people who have laid complaints with police.

Church figures are mystified by apparent allegations that Cardinal Pell had offended against one or two children at St Patrick’s Cathedral in the heart of Melbourne.

Cardinal Pell, 75, is a former priest in the diocese of Ballarat, where some of the worst offending occurred in the 1960s through to the 1990s. He was a friend of disgraced former priest Gerald Ridsdale, who is feared to have offended against hundreds of children in the diocese, leading to suicide and lifelong illnesses for many of the victims.

In the early 1990s Cardinal Pell attended court to support Ridsdale, an act that has never been forgiven by tens of thousands of people in the diocese. As a result, Cardinal Pell — while enjoying pockets of support in Ballarat — is widely disliked and faces a wave of criticism and complaints.

The Australian understands police and church officials have closely examined records to determine whether alleged victims could have been assaulted while Cardinal Pell was archbishop of Melbourne.

The suggestion is that two boys or young men were involved, claims that have been denied ­emphatically by Cardinal Pell.

“We know nothing about this. It’s something of a mystery,’’ one source said. “No one seems to know what is alleged to have happened, not even Pell’s people.’’

Cardinal Pell blames police for leaking information about allegations when he has not been informed of the claims. But this is police procedure, with the accused often the last to be interviewed.