Australia’s highest court will deliver its ruling next week on whether to overturn the convictions of Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Catholic convicted of child sex abuse.
Cardinal George Pell is currently serving a six-year jail sentence for abusing two boys in the 1990s at the Melbourne Cathedral. He is the most senior Catholic clergyman that is jailed, although he continues to maintain his innocence.
Last month during hearings the defense team fought over the fairness of the evidence presented to the jury.
Pell had once served as the Pope’s senior advisor and this case has been a huge hit to the Catholic Church and the Vatican has been under tremendous pressure to defrock the cleric, however, it has maintained that he deserves a fair and full legal process.
The original finding back in December 2018, Pell was found guilty of sexually abusing two 13-year-old choir boys in private rooms of the St Patricks Cathedral by a jury with a unanimous vote. This is the longest-running case so far for the Catholic Church and Pell’s trial heard testimony from the only surviving victim as well as evidence from dozens of churchgoers.
