Firstly, I must say I have no special knowledge of the case. I'm not even aware of everything said either for George Pell, or against him. But what I am aware of leads me to speak out against the travesty of justice.
Cardinal Pell is at the end of his working life, but he has been an effective leader. Pell was promoted by his champion Pope John Paul II to Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996, following an effective career since being ordained in '66 in which Pell had been an athlete, journalist, Principal, earned a PhD and a Masters of Education. Pell was a gifted administrator. He was instrumental in getting Pope John Paul II elected, as well as Benedict and Francis. Pell has fallen foul of Francis after Pell refused to accept AGW hysteria embraced by Francis. Wikipedia has the line "his views on the environment, and global warming in particular, are inconsistent with established Catholic teachings."
Pell has been accused and convicted of having twice abused two altar boys in the mid '90s. He is said to have forced them to give oral sex while wearing special robes in a particular area of the church the boys should not have had access to. It was claimed he achieved this in five minutes. Except it would have been hard for him to have done so with the robes which required help to put on. It is unlikely he would have been alone in that place, but as a senior official, would have been accompanied most places.
At the same time, Pell made the Melbourne Response to Pedophilia in the church, giving victims access to resources and compensation, the first cleric to organise such a thing in Australia. Subsequently, improvements were made to legislation as a result of the initiative. We are expected to believe that Pell, who was targeted as an enemy of pedophiles, helping their victims, assaulted two altar boys over a month without having been noted for such behaviour before or since.
It is understood that the boys had had knowledge of the place they accused Pell of assaulting them. There is a simple explanation for that. They were abused by someone there, but it wasn't Pell. Pell, by process, was forced to prove to a jury that he hadn't done what he had not done. The prosecution made the claim the jury had no choice to convict Pell if they thought he might have done it. The judge has claimed Pell has shown no remorse when Pell has found the thought of such a thing abhorrent.
In making a claim for bail, the defence claimed the activity for which Pell was convicted was of a minor order. Some have claimed that is a confession, when it was a legal argument and not an admission at all.
I have no knowledge of the particulars, only a broad overview. Pedophiles will feel relieved Pell is in jail. The Pope might view it as a minor victory against an effective administrator who was preventing corruption the Pope endorses. The Law in Victoria has been shown to be unsafe and practitioners have been shown to be either corrupt, incompetent or both.
There are also the two victims behind the trial. One suicided, having denied they were abused by Pell. The other is in need of help, having survived a lifetime of abuse, and drug abuse.
More media reports
https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2019/02/catholics-sex-and-cardinal-pell/?fbclid=IwAR0ChZuMFUZzSkgdMzLpCqwW3gMPOzWiJUbSoj-81JhWdF4sHFkXMfP1KmsWere Cardinal George Pell innocent what kind of case would he have presented? Would it have been different to the trial? https://qr.ae/TUf6Va
Was Cardinal George Pell sold down the river by the Vatican he was investigating? https://qr.ae/TUf6VS
Did this picture lead to an unsafe conviction, being appealed, of Cardinal George Pell? https://qr.ae/TUf6VV
Can the unsafe conviction of George Pell be overturned on appeal, given the hysterical reporting? https://qr.ae/TUf6Vm
Tony Abbott has refused to say if he will still support friend George Pell if his appeal fails
George Pell guilty: Vatican responds to ‘painful’ sex abuse verdict
Melbourne Archbishop to visit ‘friend’ George Pell in jail
Beyond reasonable doubt: Was Pell convicted without fear and favour?
'Devastating': Tony Abbott called his 'friend' George Pell following release of guilty verdict
Richter was accused by anti Pell brigade of not giving sufficient evidence for Pell's innocence. However, Richter did *everything* to show Pell was innocent without impugning the character of the accused. Because that would have unleashed worse. Pell's innocence was demonstrated at trial, but hostile interests refused to accept it. Further, the judge allowed the prosecution to over play their hand and tell the jury, repeatedly, that if it was possible for Pell to have committed the act they had to convict him. That is not true.
No comments:
Post a Comment