Australian Court Hears Public Testimony in Cardinal Pell Abuse Case

MELBOURNE, Australia — A judge allowed reporters into an Australian courtroom on Wednesday to hear witness testimony during a pretrial hearing for Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s third-highest-ranking priest, in a high-profile sexual abuse case that has largely unfolded behind closed doors.

Pell has been accused of “historical sexual offenses,” meaning they took place decades ago, but the details of the criminal complaint have not been made public. For the past 10 days the court has been closed to the public as those accusing Pell were questioned via video conference.

In general, Australian law tends to be more favorable to defendants, and proceedings more secretive, than in the United States. Such cases are often subject to the country’s contempt standards, and other legal restrictions, which prohibit journalists from reporting on details of criminal allegations.

The hearing, which is expected to run for at least another week, will determine if Pell, the most senior member of the Catholic Church to face such accusations, will stand trial.

Pell had been accused in hearings before Australia’s Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse of mishandling misconduct cases against clergy members while he served as the leader of the Archdioceses of Melbourne and Sydney. Then allegations surfaced that he had himself been involved in abuse beginning early in his priesthood and continuing until he became archbishop of Melbourne. He has repeatedly denied the accusations.

Pope Francis last year gave Pell, the Vatican’s de facto finance chief, a leave of absence to return to Australia to mount his defense. The cardinal’s rank and the nature of the allegations could make the case precedent setting, and it threatens to undermine the pope’s promise to weed out sexual abuse in the church.

On Wednesday, the defense cross-examined witnesses in open court, including Bernard Barrett, a researcher for Broken Rites, an advocacy group for victims of clergy abuse, who said he received an email from a victim in 2014.

Wednesday’s heated exchange, and the mood in the courtroom, suggest the days of closed testimony were equally tense.

“You advocate publicly and you rile publicly against the Catholic Church in particular,” Pell’s defense lawyer, Robert Richter, asked the witness. “You make up representations on the website and elsewhere accusing the church of covering up sexual abuse, is that right?”

Barrett replied, “We don’t rile or make up accusations, we just state the facts.”

Throughout Wednesday’s hearing, Pell stared down Barrett, turning his chair to better face him and maintaining a firm gaze through the questioning.

The second witness to testify was the father of an alleged victim who died of a suspected heroin overdose in 2014. He said he believed his son, who had been in a boys’ choir, developed a drug habit while in high school.

Outside the court, protesters and the cardinal’s supporters gathered, though their numbers dwindled substantially throughout the day.