Cardinal George Pell, the most senior cleric to face criminal charges for the alleged sexual assault of a minor, will stand trial on multiple counts.
Belinda Wallington, a Melbourne Magistrate, announced her decision after a month-long hearing at which numerous witnesses testified. Half the charges were dropped, but enough evidence was presented to convince the judge to commit the Cardinal to trial.
Cardinal Pell offered no response after the decision was announced. His Eminence has long portested his innocence and had entered a plea of “not guilty".
Prosecutors confirmed that the Cardinal has surrendered his passport and will not be allowed to leave the country pending the finding of a verdict at trial.
The Cardinal has been charged with crimes related to an alleged history of sexual abuse that has spanned three decades.
Lawyers representing His Eminence issued a statement indicating that the Cardinal continues to steadfastly maintain his innocence. "He will defend the remaining charges. He would like to thank all those who have supported him from both here in Australia and overseas during this exacting time," the statement said.
The Holy See issued a brief statement which said in part that the Vaticann had "taken note" of the court's decision. "Last year, the Holy Father granted Cardinal Pell a leave of absence so he could defend himself from the accusations. The leave of absence is still in place," the statement said.
Pope Francis is now faced with having to decide what to do with Cardinal Pell's position as Finance Minister, a post left vacant since Pell was placed on a leave of absence in June 2017.
The Pope has been trying to push through financial reform at the Vatican and had hand-picked Cardinal Pell to help him do that. With Cardinal Pell's absence those reforms have effectively stalled.
But the Holy Father finds himself once again in a difficult, if not untenable, situation involving sexual abuse by a high ranking cleric. The Pope just recently was forced to apologize for defending a Chilean Bishop against accusations of cover-up and, over the weekend, hosted three Chilean sex abuse victims at the Vatican to try to make amends for ignoring and disbelieving their accusations.
When allegations of historical sexual abuse by Cardinal Pell first came to light in 2016 the Pope stressed that "we must avoid a media verdict based on gossip. It's in the hands of the justice system and one cannot judge before the justice system," His Holiness said. "After the justice system speaks, I will speak."
In a statement, the Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart declined to make any comment in relation to the decision to try Cardinal Pell, saying he had confidence in the judicial system in Australia. "Justice must now take its course," he said.
Let us pray to the Holy Spirit that truth and justice will both be served in the verdict which will be announced at the end of the forthcoming trial.
May the Lord bless His Church in Australia at this sad moment assaulted as the Church is on almost every Continent by charges of the sexual abuse of minors by Priests and, increasingly so, by Bishops.
The endless scandals are taking a toll on the confidence which the lay faithful have historically placed in those ordained to the Sacred Priesthood.
Whether or not the Church will recover, if ever, will determine what moral authority the Church commands in the future.
Hell has opened its “gates” to attack the Church. Let us pray that the Church will indeed prevail against them.
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