Letter #38, 2017: Pell

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Letter #38, 2017: Pell

[2017-06-29]

[Engleză]

June 29, 2017, Thursday, Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul

Cardinal Pell Will Face Trial in Australia to "Clear My Name"

Troubling news early this morning in Rome.

(Cardinal Pell, 76, this morning in the Vatican Press Office. He read a statement saying he would return to Australia to face charges against him of sexual abuse of minors. He has been for the past three years charged by Pope Francis with the very delicate and important work of completely reforming all of the Vatican's finances. As of today, he is taking an open-ended leave from this post in order to face the charges against him, which were made public today)

Australian police have decided to charge Australian Cardinal George Pell, 76, one of the highest-ranking officials in the Vatican -- he holds at Pope Francis' request a key oversight position regarding the Vatican's finances -- with a number of counts of sexual abuse against minors.

Pell said this morning that he will travel to Australia in July to face the charges.

He said he looks forward to the opportunity to "clear my name."

The charges are apparently related to events alleged to have occurred decades ago.

Two accusations relate, it appears, to incidents in the late 1970s, 40 years ago, when Pell would have been a 36-year-old priest.

"It is unclear what allegations the charges announced Thursday relate to," reported Kristen Gelineau of the Associated Press this morning (link). "But two men, now in their 40s," she continued, "have said that Pell touched them inappropriately at a swimming pool in the late 1970s, when Pell was a senior priest in Melbourne."

She continued: "Victoria state Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said police have summoned Pell to appear in an Australian court to face multiple charges of 'historic sexual offenses,' meaning offenses that generally occurred some time ago. Patton said there are multiple complainants against Pell, but gave no other details on the allegations against the cardinal. Pell was ordered to appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court on July 18. Pell has repeatedly denied all abuse allegations made against him."

Journalists were summoned to the Vatican Press office at 8:30 a.m. this morning -- a highly unusual occurrence -- to hear a brief statement in response to the news from Cardinal Pell.

Pell was flanked by Vatican Press Office Director Greg Burke, who also read a brief statement.

Pell took no questions.

Gelineau's AP report includes this important sentence: “It is important to note that none of the allegations that have been made against Cardinal Pell have, obviously, been tested in any court yet,” Patton told reporters in Melbourne. “Cardinal Pell, like any other defendant, has a right to due process.”

I think it is important that readers should see for themselves the video of Pell's statement this morning in the Vatican Press Office.

It only takes three minutes.

Go to this link.

The link is at the bottom of the article; you have to scroll down to see the image of the video, then click on it.

I would have linked directly to the YouTube version, but the comments already posted there include such vitriol and foul language that I felt it better not to link to it. So the link I am sending you to is one at the end of a useful article by the reliable Christopher Lamb of The Tablet of London.

Francis appointed Pell in 2014 to a five-year term to head the Vatican's new economy secretariat, giving him broad rein to control all economic, administrative, personnel and procurement functions of the Holy See.

=====

Here are excerpts from a thoughtful article today by Irish journalist Gerard O'Connell, from the American Jesuit weekly, America magazine.

Cardinal Pell protests innocence on abuse charges

By Gerard O'Connell

June 29, 2017

“I’m looking forward finally to having my day in court. I repeat I am innocent of these charges. They are false. The whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me,” Cardinal George Pell said in a statement he read to the media in a crowded Vatican press hall at 8.30 a.m. on the morning of June 29.

He was referring to the “multiple charges in respect of historic sexual abuse” that have been made against him by the Victoria police, and were made public on June 29. The charges are criminal and he has been summoned to appear before Melbourne Magistrates Court on July 18.

He pointed out that “these matters” have been under investigation for nearly two years, and said, “There have been leaks to the media, relentless character assassination and for more than a month claims that a decision on laying charges is ‘imminent’.”

The cardinal, who turned 76 earlier this month, revealed that he had kept Pope Francis “regularly informed throughout this lengthy process” and said he had “spoken to him in recent days about the need to take leave to clear my name.”

He expressed his gratitude to the Pope for granting him “this leave to return home” and also to his doctors for advising him how best to do this...

The news, which broke after 2:30 a.m. (Rome time), did not come altogether as a surprise given earlier signals from the Victoria police, who had interviewed the cardinal in the Vatican last October and after a long and costly investigation and much deliberation took the decision to press charges against him.

But given this long time, many here in Rome wonder why the Victoria police decided to make the announcement on June 29, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, which is a holiday in the Vatican.

This year, most of the world’s cardinals are present, as well as much of the international media, because of the consistory on the previous day at which the Pope made five new cardinals.

One Church source who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak, told America, he is concerned because of the time lag it could take to hold a trial and to sift through all the charges. A major time lag would in fact effectively mean an end to the cardinal’s career, regardless of the end result...

A source in Australia, who asked for anonymity because of the position he holds, told America after the news broke that “the charging of Cardinal Pell is like lancing a boil that has festered for too long. Now this drama moves into its final act. He has personified the Church in Australia for well over three decades and his fate will always be entwined with the image of that Church and its future.”

Various sources in Rome and Australia told America that the cardinal has been like a lightning rod for discontent and has been a controversial and somewhat unpopular figure in Australia for a long time.

They believe that some of the accusations against him are motivated by dislike and anger with the church and that he is so identified with the Church in Australia that the vitriol that existed at the moment is often vented in an almost vicarious response.

These sources also agree that given the widespread and justifiable anger over the sexual abuse of children and minors in some 1,000 Catholic Church institutions in Australia since the 1950s, it would be fair to say that the public want scalps, and the cardinal’s would be the biggest and most high profile one. For many people, it is the one they are after.

This climate, of course, raises the crucial question as to whether he can be given a fair trial.

=========

And here is Christopher Lamb's useful report, which includes the brief video of Pell's statement this morning.

VATICAN FINANCIAL CHIEF, PELL, TAKES LEAVE OF ABSENCE TO FIGHT ABUSE CHARGES

29 June 2017 | by Christopher Lamb

(link)

Cardinal George Pell is temporarily stepping down from his role as Vatican financial chief following the Australian police’s decision to charge him with multiple child sexual abuse offences.

In a statement delivered at the Vatican this morning, the cardinal said he would take a leave of absence in order to clear his name, after which he plans to return to his work in Rome.

Pope Francis today said he appreciated Pell’s “honesty” and was grateful for his collaboration in reforming Vatican finances.

But the latest developments represent the biggest crisis to face Francis’ papacy, throwing his plans to bring accountability and transparency to Vatican finances into uncertainty.

“I’m looking forward, finally, to having my day in court. I’m innocent of these charges, they are false. The whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me,” Pell told journalists this morning at the Holy See press office.

“I’ve kept Pope Francis, the Holy Father, regularly informed during these long months. And I have spoken to him on a number of occasions in the last week, most recently a day-or-so ago. And we talked about my need to take leave to clear my name. So I’m very grateful to the Holy Father for giving me this leave to return to Australia.”

The 76-year-old cardinal, who was accompanied this morning by Vatican spokesman, Greg Burke, said news of the charges had strengthened his “resolve” and added that the proceedings “offer me an opportunity to clear my name.”

Sursa: www.InsideTheVatican.com

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