Catholic Church vs The People
Cardinal George Pell. The Catholic Church.
Outrage? Or justice? Both may incite a different emotion depending on who you ask from the trials and accusations that have come to light in recent years. Having a strong Irish Catholic surname, I resonate with the Church historically, religiously and through family history. However, I don’t identify with Catholicism on a personal level, nor do I hold a strong view towards what has transpired over the years. It is of pure interest given my background, and community impacts.
George Pell first appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on the relatable charges when I was working as a Criminal Lawyer so naturally, I fascinated by the hysteria gripping William St. It was the intrigue of a prominent figure within the Church and the intense public interest surrounding the allegations. Sitting directly behind him in a tiny, packed courtroom for his preliminary hearing, he presented as a tall, towering and frosty figure. He remained silent.
Pell was formally charged on June 2017 for multiple offences after declaring the accusations “fundamentally improbable and most certainly false”.
The Allegations
In December 1996, two thirteen year old choir boys had entered the priest’s sacristy following Sunday Mass and drank the sacramental wine held in an unsecured cupboard. It was alleged that Archbishop Pell then entered the room, and stated that the two were “in trouble”, before advancing towards the boys and forcing them to perform a sex act on him, and replicating this action on one of the complainants.
A few months later, in February 1997, it was further alleged that the Archbishop had held a complainant against a wall and violently grabbed his genitals during a procession of 50 people in the same church.
The Issues and Doubts
There were a number of discrepancies which ultimately has led to the acquittal of Pell.
Firstly, the Prosecution altered the timeline events when it was initially alleged the incidents took place between a few months in 1996, when Pell in fact had not said Mass until December 15th 1996, proving this impossible. There were further inconsistencies relating to the time constraints following Mass for Pell to offend, and the requirement to remove robes, making it extremely difficult for him to expose himself.
Of the two boys molested in 1996, one complainant died of a heroin overdose in 2014 and had denied the events took place whilst he was alive. The lack of witness evidence makes a conviction very difficult, when several Mass attendees acknowledged they would have noticed should any suspicious activity had taken place.
It should be said that the verdict is not of whether the complainants made false accusations or the character of the jurors. Our system in Australia requires the Prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accusations of the complainants are completely correct. As quoted by a dissenting Judge in the High Court of Appeal, “there was no evidence, admissions, express or implied, upon which the Prosecution could rely. The case was built around the complainant alone.”
Whilst the accusations of the complainants are not disputed, our legal system requires solid evidence to support a claim, and support a conviction. That is the unfortunate aspect of historical sexual abuse; given the time that has passed, evidence is more difficult to obtain, and there is a greater reliance on the words of the complainant.
Pell had originally been sentenced to six years imprisonment in December 2018 for committing “a brazen and forcible sexual attack on the victims” asserted by County Court Chief Judge Kidd, however this was unanimously overturned by the High Court of Australia on April 7 2020.
Despite Pell’s release from Barwon Prison (he was transferred from the Melbourne Assessment Prison following a drone incident), there will undoubtedly be civil lawsuits to follow. He has been given some breathing space for now.
Interestingly, Pell had resided with prolific sex offender Gerald Ridsdale in St Aplius in East Ballarat during the 1970’s. As abuse was discovered in the region, Bishop Ronald Mulkearns would commonly shift priests amongst parish’s. Pell had remained a close ally of Ridsdale, accompanying him to his first court hearing in 1993 for child sex offences. He was later convicted in 1993 and 2013 for sexual abuse and indecent assault on 54 children, with a further guilty plea to abusing 11 children in 2017.
During the 1960’s and 1970’s amongst the predominantly Catholic regional areas, there were allegations of corruption and “cover ups” by Victoria Police to protect the priests, later prompting a Royal Commission in 2013.
George Pell had met with victims of child sex abuse by priests in Ballarat, vowing to establish a research centre and “enhance healing and improve protection”.
Cardinal Pell was very careful in his responses during the Commission, explaining that he appeared “wooden” and “armour plated” due to his personality and “needing to survive”. This was following his statements that the church “has made enormous mistakes, and is working to remedy those”.
The story most certainly won’t end here.