Cardinal GeorgePell of Australia Sentenced to Six Years in Prison
By Livia Albeck-Ripka and Damien Cave March 12, 2019 MELBOURNE, Australia — GeorgePell, an Australian cardinal who was the Vatican’s chief financial officer andan adviser to Pope Francis, was sentenced to six years in prison on Wednesday,for molesting two boys after Sunday Mass in 1996. The cardinal was convicted onfive counts in December, making him the most senior Catholic official — and thefirst bishop — to be found guilty in a criminal court for sexually abusingminors, according to BishopAccountability.org, which tracks cases of sexualabuse by Catholic clergy. Cardinal Pell, who stoodstone-faced with lips pursed when his sentence was read aloud, will not beeligible for parole for three years and eight months.. “I would characterize thesebreaches and abuses as grave,” the chief judge in the case, Peter Kidd, saidduring the sentencing. Speaking directly to Cardinal Pell, he added: “Yourconduct was permeated by staggering arrogance.” Thesentence, falling far short of the 50-year maximum, will be closely scrutinizedaround the world. The hearing was broadcast live from the courtroom inMelbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, where Cardinal Pell first rose toprominence as an archbishop. It brings to a close two yearsof legal jockeying over evidence and accusations of sexual abuse, most of whichwere kept from public view by Australia’s legal system until recently. And forCatholics all over the world, it amounts to the toppling of a Vatican giant, acleric of enormous power who will now reside behind bars. “The importance of this casecannot be overstated,” said Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org.“It will set a precedent.” Victims of sexual abuse andadvocates who attended the sentencing left with mixed feelings. Some called ita welcome if small dose of justice, while others said the sentence was far toolenient. “Why should we take intoaccount his age?” said Phil Nagle, an advocate for abuse victims from Ballarat,Cardinal Pell’s hometown. “He’s ruined lives.” Conversation startersabout Australia and insight on the global stories that matter most,sent weekly by Damien Cave, our Australia bureau chief. Plus: heapsof local recommendations. Themain complainant in the case, who is unnamed in accordance with Australian lawsthat aim to protect sexual abuse survivors, also made clear that his pain andfrustration would linger. He issued a statement through his lawyer, VivianWaller, who read it aloud to reporters just minutes after the sentencing. “It is hard for me, for thetime being, to take comfort in this outcome,” his statement said. “I appreciatethat the court has acknowledged what was inflicted upon me as a child. However,there is no rest for me.” Cardinal Pell’s conviction was unsealedonly two weeks ago, when the court lifted a suppression order that had kept theguilty verdict a secret in Australia for months. The cardinal, 77, says he isinnocent, and his lawyers have said they will appeal the conviction. In a signof his once-rarefied status, he can count among his supporters two formerAustralian prime ministers, including one, John Howard, who submitted acharacter reference as part of a push for a reduced sentence. In his pre-sentence remarks,Judge Kidd referred repeatedly to such context, noting Cardinal Pell’s seniorrole in the church and his life of service beyond the offenses. But he alsocondemned Cardinal Pell for his “sustained offending” and described his“graphic sexual misconduct” as egregious. CardinalPell was convicted on five counts of abuse relating to two separate episodes.The most important evidence came from a single complainant, who said that aftera Sunday Mass in late 1996 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne, he andanother 13-year-old boy sneaked into the priests’ sacristy, where they werediscovered, reprimanded and molested by Cardinal Pell. According to the man’stestimony, Cardinal Pell pushed the other boy toward his genitals, then movedon to the complainant. The cardinal put his penis into the boy’s mouth, beforetelling him to remove his pants, touching himself and the boy at the same time,he said. Cardinal Pell was convicted ofthree counts of committing an indecent act with, or in the presence of, a childand one count of sexual penetration of a child under the age of 16. A separate charge related to anepisode some weeks later, in which the same complainant said the cardinalpushed him up against a wall and squeezed his genitals. When Judge Kidd laid out thesedetails in court, before issuing his sentence, Cardinal Pell mostly sat stilland looked straight ahead. But at other moments, when Judge Kidd described theabuse in detail, including the complainant’s fear and pleas to be let go duringthe abuse, the cardinal closed his eyes. “During the incident,” JudgeKidd said, they were “crying and sobbing.” But Cardinal Pell, he said, toldthem to keep quiet. Cardinal Pell’s legal team hadtried to persuade jurors that no man of such prominence would risk it all toabuse two 13-year-old boys. In a trial that began in August, the approachworked; it ended with a mistrial. But a second trial that started in Novemberyielded a conviction. In February, the cardinal was jailed to await sentencing. Itwas a fall from great heights for Cardinal Pell, who appeared in court withouthis clerical collar. In Australia, at least, there were few figures of anyreligion who were better known or more combative in matters of faith andpolitics. Cardinal Pell’s career spanneddecades, starting with his time as a parish priest in his hometown, Ballarat,followed by stints as archbishop of Melbourne and, later, of Sydney. He became a cardinal in 2005.In 2014, Pope Francis named him the prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy,charging him with overseeing the Vatican’s finances. At every point, he was a savvyfinancial operator — he is well known, in part, for protecting church financesfrom large payouts to abuse victims — and a culture warrior. He could frequentlybe found raising money for conservative causes in Australia, publiclycondemning homosexuality and stepping into policy debates as well, opposing,for example, legislation to allow adoption by gay parents. At the same time, he was trailedby accusations of sexual abuse reaching back to the 1960s, when he was aseminarian. His denials always won out, until two years ago, when he returnedto Australia from the Vatican to face a variety of charges. Besides the episodes for whichhe was convicted, a handful of other allegations, from the 1970s, nearly cameto trial. Cardinal Pell was accused of touching two boys on the genitals whileplaying with them in a swimming pool, and another boy in a lake. Thosecharges made it all the way to pretrial hearings. But after the judge deemedsome evidence inadmissible last month, prosecutors decided not to proceed. Witha trial on those charges no longer pending, the judge lifted his gag order,allowing news outlets in Australia to report Cardinal Pell’s conviction. Since then, more allegationsagainst Cardinal Pell have emerged. The relatives of at least one victim — thesecond 13-year-old he was convicted of abusing, who later died — have said thatthey plan to sue Cardinal Pell and the church in civil court. Cardinal Pell may also facerenewed scrutiny for how he handled cases of abuse when he was archbishop. But on Wednesday, Judge Kiddimplored the public to remember that Cardinal Pell was being sentenced only forthe crimes he committed in 1996. Survivors outside the courtroom said theyhoped it would lead to greater accountability. “A lot of them don’t getsentenced,” said David Emery, a 64-year-old survivor. Cardinal Pell’s sentence, headded, was “going to leave a mark.”
