George Pell removed as Vatican finance chief as verdicts revealed

The Vatican confirms George Pell is no longer finance chief after a jury found he molested choirboys in a Melbourne cathedral in 1996.

The Vatican has confirmed George Pell is no longer serving as finance chief after a jury found he molested choirboys in a Melbourne cathedral just months into his appointment as archbishop in 1996.

MORE: Pell in court for sentencing hearing

The Vatican’s interim press officer tweeted this morning; “I can confirm that Cardinal George Pell is no longer the Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy.”

I can confirm that Cardinal George Pell is no longer the Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy

— Alessandro Gisotti (@AGisotti) February 26, 2019

The international editor of the Catholic News Service tweeted that Pell’s five year term in office expired on February 24 and has not been renewed.

Now the Vatican has confirmed that Cardinal #Pell no longer is head of Vatican Secretariat for the Economy. His term expired Feb. 24. Updated @CatholicNewsSvc story ⏩⏩https://t.co/Wa4inRSIoP pic.twitter.com/ntXRVfvDPl

— Barb Fraze (@bfraze) February 26, 2019

In December, Pell became one of three senior advisers whom the Pope removed from the Vatican’s influential Council of Cardinals.

The Vatican said it had written to Cardinal Pell and his two colleagues in late October, telling them their roles on the C9 council had expired at the end of their five-year tenure.

Pell faces a jail term and the ignominy of becoming the most senior Catholic in the world convicted of sexual abuse, after his conviction.

Pell, 77, will be remanded in custody today in Melbourne ­unless his lawyers can secure him bail while he appeals against the verdict that was delivered in ­December but made public only yesterday after suppression orders were lifted.

If Pell loses the appeal, he will be defrocked by the Vatican, while other civil honours such as his Companion of the Order of Australia could also be stripped.

In chaotic scenes, a distressed Pell left Victoria’s County Court flanked by supporters and jostled by opponents after a second separate sexual abuse case against him was dropped.

The collapse of that case, which centred on allegations that he had indecently assaulted two boys at the Eureka swimming pool in Ballarat, meant that Pell’s December convictions for sexually assaulting two teenage choir boys in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne in 1996 and 1997 could be revealed.

The guilty verdicts on five charges — one count of sexual penetration with a child under the age of 16 and four counts of indecent acts with or in the presence of a child under 16 — mean Pell has become the world’s most senior Catholic in the modern era to be convicted of sexually abusing children.

The Vatican said last night the Pope had confirmed that Pell had been forbidden from having contact with minors until his appeal had been heard and that he was obliged not to act as a minister. It added that the news of Pell’s conviction was “painful” but he had the right to defend himself

Pell’s legal team has already ­appealed against the jury verdicts, claiming his accuser’s evidence was implausible and the prosecution case contained serious errors.

Scott Morrison said he was “deeply shocked at the crimes of which George Pell has been convicted”.

“While due process continues, our justice system has affirmed no Australian is above the law,’’ the Prime Minister said.

 

The surviving victim of the abuse, then a teenager and a choirboy at the cathedral, yesterday pleaded for peace, saying he was a family man who didn’t want relatives dragged into the scandal.

“Like many survivors, I have experienced shame, loneliness, ­depression and struggle,” the victim said. “Like many survivors, it has taken me years to understand the impact on my life. At some point we realise that we trusted someone we should have feared and we fear those genuine relationships that we should trust.’’

Pell’s solicitor Paul Galbally said: “Cardinal George Pell has ­always maintained his innocence and continues to do so. An appeal has been lodged against his conviction and he will await the outcome of the appeal process.’’

Australia’s most senior Catholics said they were shocked and surprised by Pell’s conviction and awaited the outcome of the appeal.

Archbishop of Melbourne Peter Comensoli said: “I fully ­respect the ongoing ­judicial process, noting that Cardinal Pell continues to protest his innocence.

“My thoughts and prayers are with all victims who have been abused by clergy, religious and lay people in the archdiocese of Melbourne at this challenging time, and I renew my personal commitment to do all I can to ensure victims of such abuse in Melbourne receive justice and healing.”

The convictions have rattled the church and led to Pell’s former school, St Patrick’s College in Ballarat, removing the cardinal’s name from a building and honour roll and striking off his legend ­status. This will be a crushing blow to Pell, who was raised in the provincial city in western Victoria.

Richmond Football Club also removed Pell as a club vice-patron, declaring it had “formed a view that his association is no longer tenable or appropriate’’.

An increasingly frail Pell was found guilty of the assaults in an open priests’ sacristy at the back of St Patrick’s Cathedral before Christmas in 1996.

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While the first jury to hear the case was hung, a second found Pell guilty of five counts of abuse after the solemn mass, soon after he was made archbishop of Melbourne and while he was overseeing the church’s first compensation scheme for abuse victims.

Pell was found guilty of touching a choirboy’s genitals and masturbating himself as well as forcing his erect penis into a boy’s mouth.

The jury found him guilty of a separate attack on one of the boys two months later, when he pushed the sole surviving choirboy against a wall and squeezed his genitals.

Prosecutors alleged the two teenage choirboys had snuck away from the procession and were swigging sacramental wine in the priest’s sacristy — a room for keeping sacred vestments where priests get changed — when they were “caught” by Pell.

Only one victim gave evidence against Pell; the other had died four years earlier.

The surviving victim gave evidence in closed court with media and the public unable to attend, in accordance with Victorian laws that allow for a closed court in order to avoid causing undue distress or embarrassment in sexual assault cases. The surviving victim told the court: “(Pell) planted himself in the doorway and said something like ‘what are you doing here’ or ‘you’re in trouble’. He went on to describe Pell exposing himself and grabbing his friend’s head. He said Pell controlled his friend’s head but he couldn’t see where Pell’s penis was.

The victim described his own abuse, saying Pell forced his penis into his mouth.

“It occurred closer to the corner of the room where the cupboards were,” he said. “I was pushed down and crouching or kneeling. Archbishop Pell was standing. He was erect and he pushed it into my mouth. I was pushed onto the penis.”

The chorister said Pell then told the boy to take off his pants, which he did. “Then he started touching my genitalia, masturbating or trying to do something with my genitalia,” the chorister told the court.

“Archbishop Pell was touching himself on his penis with his other hand.”

Pell did not give evidence in his defence during the trial. He dismissed the allegations as “garbage” when Victoria Police interviewed him in Rome in 2016.

“The allegations are a product of fantasy,” Pell said in the interview that was videoed and played to the jury. “What absolute and disgraceful rubbish … It’s vile and disgusting conduct contrary to everything I hold dear.”

Pell claimed he was most certainly greeting the public out the front of the cathedral at the time of the alleged offending and by the time he returned the choirboys had disrobed and gone home.

A key issue at the trial was whether two choirboys could have left the procession after mass without being noticed. The court heard conflicting evidence on this topic from former choirboys and adults.

Another key issue was whether Pell could have exposed himself to the boys while dressed in his ceremonial robes. The robes included an alb, an ankle-length white under-tunic that included two slits to allow access to pockets, and was tied with acincture, a knotted rope fastened tightly around the waist, to prevent the alb moving.

Victorian sentencing data suggests that Pell could face a custodial sentence for his crimes. Seventy-six per cent of sentences for offenders charged with sexual penetration with a child under 16 result in a jail term with 60 per cent being under three years.

The father of one of the two boys molested by Pell said yesterday he would sue the cardinal or the church following the death of his son. The victim, who never told his parents about the abuse, died in 2014 of a drug overdose when he was in his early 30s.

Shine Lawyers’ head of specialist personal injury, Lisa Flynn, said she believed the boy had been ­diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression following the sex attack.

“We believe his death is directly linked to those conditions that he suffered as a result of the abuse,” Ms Flynn said.