Cardinal George Pell is expected to retain his OAM and church titles after the High Court quashed his child sexual abuse convictions.
The most senior Catholic in the world to be convicted of child sexual abuse had his convictions unanimously quashed this morning, meaning he will walk free from prison.Now, attention is turning to what that legal decision will mean for Pell’s titles, including his OAM and his position within the Catholic Church.
“And, of course, my understanding is that this would result in the stripping of the honours that are decided externally to the government, that is a process that is done independently and that course will now follow,” Mr Morrison told reporters at the time. However, Mr Morrison’s comments caused some confusion, as it was previously understood that if Pell’s appeal was rejected, the Prime Minister’s office would directly ask the Council for the Order of Australia to look into stripping Pell’s Companion of the Order of Australia.
The institution originally signalled it would wait for the appeal verdict before pursuing any further action — but later revealed an internal investigation was to be carried out by Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which could have resulted in him being excommunicated, or dismissed or defrocked.
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George Pell High Court decision LIVE: Cardinal to be freed from prison after conviction overturnedThe High Court has granted Pell leave to appeal his convictions, and allowed that appeal. Read the full summary judgment in our live blog
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George Pell High Court decision LIVE: Cardinal to be freed from prison after conviction overturnedCardinal George Pell has left prison. Footage taken from the Nine News helicopter, showed a convoy of fours cars, led by a white Mercedes, leaving Barwon prison at 12.30pm
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To some Cardinal George Pell 'will always be guilty' | Sky News AustraliaSky News host Peta Credlin says the High Court's decision to unanimously quash the conviction of George Pell is not the end of the controversy because 'so many have invested so much in their campaign against him' for crimes others have committed.\n\nOn Tuesday, Carinal Pell had his sexual abuse conviction overturned by Australia's highest court after having spent 405 days in jail following an initial ruling which had found him guilty in 2018.\n\nMs Credlin said 'it was always going to be hard to find an unbiased jury' given the 'real failings of the church in coming to grips with the sexual abuse epidemic' and Cardinal Pell's 'seeming lack of empathy' when it comes to the plight of victims.\n\n'To some, Pell will always be guilty, regardless of the High Court's judgment, because all priests are suspect, and every complainant is to be believed,' she said.\n\nMs Credlin said following the initial guilty verdict in 2018 her faith in the two institutions which had 'done so much to shape my life' - the Catholic Church, and the law - had been seriously challenged.\n\n'After today's judgment, for me at least, the High Court has pretty much restored my faith in our legal system'.\n\nMs Credlin said as difficult, 'dispiriting and gut-wrenching' as the historical sexual abuse crimes which have been committed across the world including Australia may be, it 'cannot justify in the words of the High Court today 'a significant possibility that an innocent person has been convicted because the evidence did not establish guilt to the requisite standard of proof''.\n\nImage: AP
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FIRST SIGHT OF PELL: Watch the moment George Pell is released from prison | Sky News AustraliaGeorge Pell has left Victoria's Barwon Prison after his sexual abuse conviction was overturned unanimously in the High Court.\n\nMr Pell spent 405 days in jail after an initial ruling found him guilty in 2018.\n\nCardinal Pell said he held “no ill will toward my accuser” adding “I don’t want my acquittal to add to the hurt and bitterness so many feel; there is certainly hurt and bitterness enough”. \n\nImage: Supplied\n\n
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Cardinal Pell 'became the scapegoat for his church': Andrew Bolt | Sky News AustraliaCardinal George Pell “should never have been convicted” with his persecution representing “one of this nation’s greatest miscarriages of justice,” according to Sky News host Andrew Bolt. \n\nMr Bolt said a “witch hunt” has permeated facets of society against the Cardinal, which has subsequently “ruined his reputation, destroyed his brilliant career” and “robbed him” of his freedom. \n\nOn Tuesday, Cardinal Pell had his sexual abuse conviction overturned by Australia’s highest court, in a unanimous decision, after having spent 405 days in jail following an initial ruling which had found him guilty in 2018.\n\nCardinal Pell had come out and said he holds “no ill will toward my accuser” adding “I don’t want my acquittal to add to the hurt and bitterness so many feel; there is certainly hurt and bitterness enough”.\n\nMr Bolt said shame should fall upon the “state institutions which tried so destroy a man loathed by the Left as a conservative and chosen by the mob to be the scapegoat for his church.”\n\n“Shame also on the ABC, our national broadcaster, for hysterically promoting damaging claims against Pell that all turned out to be too absurd to lead to charges, or too flimsy to go to trial, or now, too weak to survive an appeal”. \n\nMr Bolt also showed a recreation of the alleged timeline of events which were levelled against Cardinal Pell saying, “neither Pell, the supposed criminal, nor his victims could have been at the scene of the crime at the only time the crime was possible”. \n\n“It seems the High Court agreed”.\n\nImage: AP
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George Pell to walk free after High Court quashes child sex abuse convictionsThe High Court of Australia grants George Pell's appeal against his 2018 convictions for sexually abusing two choirboys in the 1990s.
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