Pope Francis has issued a cryptic tweet following the Victorian Supreme Court’s decision to uphold George Pell’s child sex abuse convictions as the Vatican weighs whether to hold a canonical trial of its own.
The Church’s highest ranking Catholic said: “It takes more strength to repair than to build, to start anew than to begin, to be reconciled than to get along. This is the strength that God gives us.”
It comes after his weekly address on Wednesday in which he did not reference Cardinal Pell directly, but spoke of hypocrisy being the “worst enemy” of the Christian community.
“A life based only on making a profit and taking advantage of situations to the detriment of others inevitably causes inner death," he said.
“How many people say they are close to the Church, friends of priests, bishops while only seeking their own interests? These are the hypocrisies that destroy the Church.”
MORE: Pell to serve sentence in Village of the Damned
Cardinal Pell, 78, was once the third-most senior Catholic in the Vatican, responsible for implementing financial reforms in the ancient institution. He was a close ally of Pope Francis, who has made moves to combat sexual abuse in the church, but has been criticised for not going far enough.
On Tuesday, the Victorian Supreme Court dismissed Cardinal Pell’s appeal ensuring he would remain behind bars serving his six-year prison term. Pell will be eligible for parole three years and eight months into the sentence.
MORE: Pell could face Vatican trial
Following the decision, the Vatican released a statement reiterating its “respect for the Australian judicial system”, but added Pell had always maintained his innocence and had the right to appeal to the High Court.
“At this time, together with the Church in Australia, the Holy See confirms its closeness to the victims of sexual abuse and its commitment to pursue, through the competent ecclesiastical authorities, those members of the clergy who commit such abuse,” it said.
WORLD REACTS
The world’s media reacted swiftly to the decision with articles and opinion pieces featured on news websites from Europe to the US.
In Italy, major news site Corriere Della Sera ran a photo of the Pell arriving in court alongside the headline ‘Paedophilia, the condemnation of Cardinal George Pell confirmed on appeal’, while La Repubblica reported Pell would be stripped of Australia’s “highest honorary title”.
The BBC’s Phil Mercer said “the man who was once in the Pope’s inner circle was impassive” as he learned his fate. The Daily Beast went further, saying the verdict had put Pope Francis in a “tight corner”.
“Vatican policy has for years centred on placing blame for the sex-abuse scandal on local dioceses and on the bishops in charge of perverted priests. But in the case of Cardinal Pell, the highest-ranking church official to be convicted, only the pope can decide what to do now. Will he defrock the cardinal who was once in his inner circle?
The Catholic Herald’s Christopher Altieri said a Vatican trial must be “public and transparent.”
“A secret process will not do justice: not to the accused, nor to the accuser, nor to the broad society of the Church, in whose name the tribunal would act,” he wrote.
The front page of The Tablet, an international Catholic journal, asked ‘what happens next?’ with Rome correspondent Christopher Lamb writing the case had become “something of a litmus test for the church’s handling of abuse”.
“Will a victim, who has undergone cross-examination and convinced a jury, be believed, or will the denials of a powerful cardinal be accepted?” he asked.
“For the Church to convince the world it is serious about tackling abuse, child protection experts stress that everyone making an allegation of abuse must be listened to, regardless of who they accuse.”
The Wall Street Journal’s Vatican correspondent Francis X Rocca said the church’s position was unsurprising and many in the Vatican did not believe Pell was guilty.
“The cardinal maintains his innocence. The Vatican also has its own investigation underway and will eventually probably have its own trial and that’s a separate matter,” he told SBS News.
“If you talk to people here (in the Vatican) — people don't believe it — it is very hard to find someone in the Vatican that believes this even among Cardinal Pell's many enemies," Rocca said.
AUSTRALIAN ARCHBISHOPS RESPOND
The Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, urged the Australian community to maintain “calm and civility” in the wake of the rejected appeal.
“I know that there are many in the Catholic community and beyond who will find it difficult to come to terms with this judgement, especially those who know the Cardinal and will struggle to reconcile this outcome with the man they know,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Melbourne Peter Comensoli said he respectfully received the court’s decision and extended his thoughts and prayers to “the man who brought this matter before the courts”.
“I humbly acknowledge it has been a challenging time for him, and I stand ready to offer pastoral and spiritual help, should he seek it,” he said.
He added he would also ensure Pell was provided with spiritual support while serving out the rest of his sentence in prison.
The president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Mark Coleridge, said he too accepted the decision.
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