Cardinal Pell charged and must return

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The press conference is happening now.

Is a holiday in the Vatican today.

Cardinal Pell says he is innocent. The Holy Father is informed of the situation.

Cardinal Pell will take leave to come home and clear his name.

Then go back to the Vatican to work.
 
MaryT777 said:
Actually it would be more correct to say the Church has taken measures to correct the problem. When did this happen? I thought the article said “historic” in its notation of the crime which leads me to believe it’s been awhile. It may have been before the Church has implemented the changes it has.

Even with those changes it cannot be guaranteed that no further abuse of children will happen. No catholic thinks such thing as we have a "fool proof " system.

What do you possibly mean “head in the sand approach from Catholics”. How presumptuous and rude. I know of absolutely NO Catholic that puts their head in the sand and states “Oh no big deal, abuse of children.” It has been a heartbreaking experience for Catholics and many have left the Church over this issue.

You make it sound like Catholics think this is no big deal; you are absolutely wrong and it’s an offensive attitude.

Why should the Pope be responsible for another man’s actions?

Good grief, I am tired of the few posters here who seem to imply Catholics think this is no big deal.

Mary.
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Dear Mary,

I agree!

However, I have found that it is of little use on the Internet to argue with resentful posters who proudly proclaim that they are “still Catholic”, “probably leaving”, or “non practising”. They simply want to stir up trouble to validate their own inner conflicts. They should rather follow the words of Elijah and stop sitting on the fence. 1 Timothy 6 gives good advice on dealing with these contentious and troubled souls, whose endless posts bespeak their lack of more constructive activities.

As for the rest, let the law take its course. Baseless speculations and rumours do not become us.
 
I don’t know, but the accusations against Cardinal Pell weren’t new.

What I think is appalling that most Catholics here seem to think or imply that Pell is guilty. The Cardinal happens to be one of the good ones, orthodox in his Catholic teaching.

If I’m wrong, then I’m wrong, but I think some people are out to get him because he’s one of the orthodox ones.

Anyone can just throw out an accusation, hey so and so priest molested this person when he was eight years old or something.

The end.
7_Sorrows said:
Does anyone know how old Cardinal Pell is now and how long ago was it did these
abuses allegedly happen?
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StudentMI said:
What about praying for the victims of Ridsdale whom Pell protected? What if these charges are true and Pell harmed these people? What about praying for them, instead of loading that request as if the Church was under attack because of this man?

Go home, Cardinal Pell.
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You do realise charged doesn’t mean guilty?
 
RomanoAmerio said:
Dear Mary,

I agree!

However, I have found that it is of little use on the Internet to argue with resentful posters who proudly proclaim that they are “still Catholic”, “probably leaving”, or “non practising”. They simply want to stir up trouble to validate their own inner conflicts. They should rather follow the words of Elijah and stop sitting on the fence. 1 Timothy 6 gives good advice on dealing with these contentious and troubled souls, whose endless posts bespeak their lack of more constructive activities.

As for the rest, let the law take its course. Baseless speculations and rumours do not become us.
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Thank you for this kind and “good reminder post.”

New International Version/Revelations 3:16

**So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

**
 
Hoosier_Daddy said:
There are many who think the Church has corrected its problems with abuse. It has not.
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To a large degree I believe it has, just like many other places are also more aware of it and have policies in place to prevent it, it was absolutely not exclusive to the Church and people should be on guard no matter what venue it is. Pedophiles will simply go wherever they can to get easy access to kids.
Hoosier_Daddy said:
And the head in the sand approach from Catholics needs to stop.
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Are you referring to me at all?
Hoosier_Daddy said:
Pelli should face this and if convicted The Pope himself needs to be responsible.
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Pell should face it, and I hope it’s a fair and just trial to get to the truth of the matter, if found guilty, the one who committed the crime should do the time. The Pope has nothing to do with it.

I hope this has helped

God Bless

Thank you for reading
Josh
 
How are they going to prove guilt, if any at all? No DNA samples, security cameras were around during the supposed abuses?

I think it’s a case of disgruntled laymen who just want to attack the Church and gain some money.
josh987654321 said:
To a large degree I believe it has, just like many other places are also more aware of it and have policies in place to prevent it, it was absolutely not exclusive to the Church and people should be on guard no matter what venue it is. Pedophiles will simply go wherever they can to get easy access to kids.

Are you referring to me at all?

Pell should face it, and I hope it’s a fair and just trial to get to the truth of the matter, if found guilty, the one who committed the crime should do the time. The Pope has nothing to do with it.

I hope this has helped

God Bless

Thank you for reading
Josh
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josh987654321 said:
To a large degree I believe it has, just like many other places are also more aware of it and have policies in place to prevent it, it was absolutely not exclusive to the Church and people should be on guard no matter what venue it is. Pedophiles will simply go wherever they can to get easy access to kids.

Are you referring to me at all?

Pell should face it, and I hope it’s a fair and just trial, if found guilty, the one who committed the crime should do the time. The Pope has nothing to do with it.

I hope this has helped

God Bless

Thank you for reading
Josh
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I was not referring to you at all! It’s a general observation. In my diocese currently a priest is on trial for rape. Our former parish priest has left the priesthood to “marry” another man. The attitude of many in our diocese is to ignore or “forget” these things. All other ministry is given “safe environment” training as if that has been the problem.

But you can see, even in this thread the idea of misplaced charitable positions to clergy, and attack and defmamation of those who express righteous anger. While this case is “historical” that matters little.

I get it, no one wants to see the disease in a loved one. These things still happen. And yes, they probably always will. But that doesn’t mean responsibility for them passes.

And sorry, this isn’t out of the blue. This Cardinal (that I’ve actually been a fan of when it comes to political and orthodoxy issues) has had allegations surrounding him. For him to hold a high and important position is concerning. And the Pope bears some responsibility here. Even if the Cardinal is completely found innocent, the stain and hurt does damage within the Church. Somewhat ironically I think Pell was chosen to clear financial scandals.

This whole thing is tragic, sad and makes the devil smile because it destroys the Church’s ability to lead.

I think in part, the reason we lost the marriage battle etc is because we have lost thevear of the public on all matters sexual.

The devil attacks that which is most Holy. The Church.
 
Vouthon said:
As an institution, our Church has failed in the past and on repeated occasions to protect the most vulnerable members under its care from harm at the hands of men of the cloth.
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I have to take issue with that statement.

I became a Catholic right at the time when public opinion was foaming at the mouth with vitriol towards Bishop Robert Finn and Shawn Ratigan. Ground zero for that whole affair is a mere 10 minute drive from my house. Of course I digested and dissected every word reported about the case and spent a lot of time separating the speculation and rumor driven inferred hyperbole from fact. Assembling a simple timeline of events starkly revealed to myself that long before Bishop Finn had even heard one word about Ratigan’s proclivities, there were at least 6 lay people of record that qualified as “mandated reporters” that could have reported Ratigan but did not. That same timeline of events showed me that Bishop Finn did everything that he could to rectify the situation up to a point, that point being the moment that Ratigan thumbed his nose at the restrictions that Bishop Finn had placed on him. It was at that point that Finn was legally obligated to call the police. If that sounds preposterous to you, there is one person that agrees with me: the judge that dismissed the 1st charge against Finn pertaining to everything that happened prior to the spring of 2011, yet upheld the 2nd charge for the events that happened afterwards.

What that whole experience taught me was this: It’s not the “Institutions” duty to protect the most vulnerable members. That duty falls on us, the lay people.

I made myself watch “Spotlight” with a little bit of trepidation this last year. I ended up absolutely loving the movie. But what I got out of the movie was very different from what the world at large got out of the movie: “Spotlight” devoted a HUGE part of the script to illustrate just how much the parents, the civil authorities, the legal system, even the press themselves, had failed the victims before their respective bishops even heard a word of it.

KCMO is just a microcosm of that. I’m confident that Victoria is also a microcosm of that. Oh well. I guess in this world, it’s just not as sensational to address the problem where it started. But the head of a sitting bishop, cardinal, or even an arch cardinal? ROLL THE PRESSES!!! I equate that to blaming the Fire Marshall for your house burning down, when it was you that witnessed the embers that started the fire in the first place.
 
fin said:
How are they going to prove guilt, if any at all? No DNA samples, security cameras were around during the supposed abuses?

I think it’s a case of disgruntled laymen who just want to attack the Church and gain some money.
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This is my thoughts also. Cardinal Pell was the first in Australian bishop to address the issue that plagues so much of our society including the liberalising church of the 1960’s-1990’s.

The secular media have been out to get Cardinal Pell for a very long time and any evidence has been extremely flimsy. They want to get him basically because he is a conservative and number 3 in the Vatican.

We can never pre-judge the case of when someone / anyone has been accused but of all that I have seen, this points to another Left secular witch hunt.
 
I’m sorry to hear about this.

I’d like to ask if judgement on all sides could refrain. Obviously, a trial needs to take place to establish exactly what happened. Either stating the guilt of the Cardinal or that the claims against him are false are both equally as unhelpful and equally as unnecessary.

To all those stating people will use this to attack the Church - to some, probably they will, because this will probably seem as another person in a long line of people accused and convicted of the same crime. I am not one of them, nor am I saying that the Cardinal is guilty. But what I am saying is the best thing for the Church to do is wholly support this investigation (not that I am claiming it does not) to show the people that it does everything it can against these horrific cases.

Lou
 
Firstly, I’m not posting the following news story to determine that this means Cardinal Pell will be cleared of the current accusations, those accusations will have to be hashed out in court presumably and if he is found guilty then he needs to face the consequences.

Cardinal Pell was accused of sex abuse before and was cleared in an “independent inquiry” in 2002, per Zenit. Zenit also reported that, “The media published graphic accounts of the sexual abuse allegedly committed by Pell, while at the same time protecting the anonymity of his accuser.”

Hopefully truth and justice will prevail in regards to these current allegations, but Cardinal Pell could be cleared like he was before, or he could be found guilty, stating the obvious, but only time will tell.
 
StudentMI said:
What about praying for the victims of Ridsdale whom Pell protected? What if these charges are true and Pell harmed these people? What about praying for them, instead of loading that request as if the Church was under attack because of this man?

Go home, Cardinal Pell.
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How DARE you deign to insinuate that Cardinal Pell ‘protected’ pedophiles or that he has demurred from facing his slanderous accusers! (Accusers who have conveniently waited decades.)
Go home???

Was Jesus ‘hiding’ in Gethsemene?
“…Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would an outlaw?”

God bless Fr George.
May God give him strength to face the spittal and hatred to which he willingly offers himself.
 
StudentMI said:
What about praying for the victims of Ridsdale whom Pell protected? What if these charges are true and Pell harmed these people? What about praying for them, instead of loading that request as if the Church was under attack because of this man?

Go home, Cardinal Pell.
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You are aware, we are supposed to assume innocence until proven guilty…right?

Its sad that today, all it takes to convict is just an allegation. btw, since when did so many folks become so pro-authority? lol Seems to me things were a lot better when it was the other way around!
 
Let the law take its course. He says he has done nothing wrong, I believe him, unless the court can prove otherwise. The delay in charges is very suspicious, I hope the accusers will actually step forward and not be anonymous, as in many of yhese cases.
 
To answer a few questions:

Cardinal Pell is 76 years old, and by all accounts, the charges relate to events alleged to have occurred in the 1970s.

Pell is unpopular with secular society, particularly the progressives. IMHO, he is not a good communicator - he typically comes across as insensitive, lacking empathy and perhaps arrogant. This is not going to be helpful in a jury trial. Despite this, those who know him well or over extended periods (Eg Sydney Archbishop Fisher) regard him as a thoroughly decent man. Regrettably, there are many people who want to see someone senior prosecuted, and the antagonism many feel toward him lead them to conclude he’s their man.

While the media describe him as a “conservative” Catholic, the issues they use to exemplify this are actually mainstream Catholic positions:
  • opposes abortion;
  • he supports an all male priesthood;
  • he refused to offer communion to gay activists (dressed to make the point…) who presented in the communion line.
Charges about alleged events 40 years ago. An unpopular defendant. A society antagonistic toward the Church following a few years of sexual abuse victims telling their stories. This case is sure to challenge the wheels of justice.
 
RomanoAmerio said:
Dear Mary,

I agree!

However, I have found that it is of little use on the Internet to argue with resentful posters who proudly proclaim that they are “still Catholic”, “probably leaving”, or “non practising”. They simply want to stir up trouble to validate their own inner conflicts. They should rather follow the words of Elijah and stop sitting on the fence. 1 Timothy 6 gives good advice on dealing with these contentious and troubled souls, whose endless posts bespeak their lack of more constructive activities.

As for the rest, let the law take its course. Baseless speculations and rumours do not become us.
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👍

I pray that the trial is fair, and and a just outcome is reached.
 
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