Australian court upholds Cardinal Pell's conviction on abuse charges

A panel of three Australian judges has upheld the conviction of Cardinal George Pell for sexually assaulting two choirboys in the 1990s in a 2-1 decision, ordering the Vatican's former number-three official to continue serving a six-year prison term.

The decision, announced by the Court of Appeal in the southeastern state of Victoria early Aug. 21 in Australia, marks another historic moment in an historic case. 

Pell, who was long the highest-ranking Catholic in Australia but was brought to Rome in 2014 by Pope Francis to restructure the Vatican's finances, is the first Vatican official charged by authorities on abuse allegations, the first convicted, and the first sentenced to jail. He is now also the first to lose on appeal.

The decision of the three-judges -- Chief Justice Anne Ferguson, Justice Chris Maxwell, and Justice Mark Weinberg -- also sets the stage for Pell's defense lawyers to make one final appeal to Australia's highest court.

At a two-day appeals hearing in June, Pell's lawyers had made two main arguments: that the cardinal's conviction was "unreasonable" due to a lack of evidence available to determine his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and that there had been errors in the proceedings that prevented the prelate from presenting his full case.

On Aug. 21, Ferguson, Maxwell and Weinberg unanimously agreed that there were no grounds for appeal on the second of the arguments. Ferguson and Maxwell agreed that there were no grounds for appeal on the first of the arguments, with Weinberg dissenting.

In a hearing to explain their decision, livestreamed for viewing across the world, Ferguson said the three appeals judges had watched the tapes of the original trial, which spanned more than 30 hours, more than once. 

"Having reviewed the whole of the evidence, two of the judges … were satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Cardinal Pell was guilty of the offences charged," said Ferguson.

Referring to the testimony of the abuse victim in the case, Ferguson added: "The complainant was a very compelling witness, and was clearly not a liar."

Reporters in the courtoom described Pell, who has strenuously denied the charges of abuse, as reacting to the appeals verdict with shock. One described the cardinal as gripping a bannister in the coutroom as Ferguson spoke; another said he looked "destroyed."