In Australia, Catholic-haters have just convicted an innocent cardinal for sexual abuse

New York Post ^ | 08/22/2019 | Julia Yost

[SeekAndFind]

By 2-to-1 vote, an Australian appellate court this week dismissed George Cardinal Pell’s appeal of his conviction on five counts of “historic” child sexual abuse. For Pell’s supporters, the decision can hardly be surprising. Given the way things had gone, a just outcome would have come as a shock.

Prosecutors accused Pell of surprising two choirboys who were guzzling communion wine in the sacristy of the Melbourne cathedral immediately after Mass one Sunday in 1996. The cardinal was charged with forcing the boys to fellate him while he was still vested in archbishop’s robes.

The allegations were utterly implausible — for several reasons well-established by the defense at trial.

The cathedral’s communion wine was kept locked in a safe, for starters, and Pell couldn’t have left the post-Mass proceedings without his absence being noticed; witnesses attested this never happened. Likewise, the choirboys couldn’t have left the post-Mass proceedings without their absence being noticed; witnesses attested this never happened, either.

Plus, the sacristy would have been bustling with activity. As witnesses testified, Pell was never alone in the cathedral while vested for Mass but always accompanied by at least one assistant. The security arrangements and layout of the cathedral, and the respective locations of the cardinal and the choir, would have made it impossible for the abuse to occur as alleged. Nor is it physically possible to expose one’s genitals while vested in an archbishop’s robes.

Before he died in 2014, one of the two boys denied that he had “ever been interfered with or touched up” — by anyone. All this led 10 out of 12 jurors at Pell’s first trial to vote to acquit. Yet at the retrial, the jurors ignored the enormous weight of exculpatory evidence and voted in December to convict him amid a climate of media-driven

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CARDINAL GEORGE PELL

Why Pell? Equipped with brains, managerial talent and force of personality, he had risen to eminence while espousing all the wrong opinions affecting the Catholic Church. A vocal conservative on political as well as theological matters, he doubted climate change and opposed gay marriage. A cardinal since 2003, he ascended to become head of Vatican ­finances and a member of Pope Francis’ inner circle.

With the successful prosecution of Pell, the progressive media and political establishments have their man at last.

[SeekAndFind]

The dissenting appellate judge concluded that the sole accuser’s wholly uncorroborated testimony “contained discrepancies, displayed inadequacies and otherwise lacked probative value.”

[BipolarBob]

Nobody is innocent. All have sinned and come short.

[BlessedBeGod]

Since when is it wrong for a Catholic clergyman to sexually abuse young boys?

He didn't do it. That's the point.

[Texas Eagle]

Well, yeah, but even if he did, so what? The Catholic Church usually rallies around child molesters.

[TalBlack]

One big implausibility is that fags don’t want choir boys to fellate them so much as they want to fellate choir boys.

[ConservativeMind]

Well, so many Catholic priests do these things, that how is one to believe when one hasn’t?

[Salvation]

I still think Pell is innocent.

[Vigilanteman]

Multiple witness and circumstantial testimony outweighs a single unsubstantiated accusation in any court of justice in western civilization. Unless, of course, we wish to go back to the days of the witch trials, as seems the case here.

[pbear8]

Nobody is innocent.

With that in mind, why do we even bother with trials? Why have a judicial system?

[pbear8]

The bad guys won’t rally around him because he is a straight, white male who abides by the teaching of the Church. They hate him for not loving sodomy, that is why they convicted him with no evidence.

[Praxeologue]

This case will be appealed to the High Court of Australia. Meanwhile Cardinal Pell languishes in a prison cell twenty-three hours a day.

[moonhawk]

What an A-hole.

[thoughtomator]

Rather than howls of outrage from members of the Catholic Church, this should elicit a pause of reflection as to how it came to pass that the organization has so little credibility on issues relating to pederasty that even normally-convincing evidence in their favor is rejected by regular folk.

[x_plus_one]

Just another cover up of pedo priests and their enables. The new York Slimes works for the swamp.

[PraiseTheLord]

Another reason to mention the impossibility of this story they cooked up is: Cardinal Pell had a routine after Mass at the Cathedral and that is that he remained OUTSIDE the Cathedral after Mass, greeting parishioners etc.

So these Catholic haters trying to frame someone, didn’t finish their cooked up explanarion story.

[joma89]

And leftists will continue to use lawfare against us. This is a war, folks. The left will eventually come for you.

JoMa

[metmom]

A conservative.

That explains it.