VICTORIA, Australia, August 14, 2019
The three judges in the Appellate Court of Victoria, Australia, will hand down their verdict in Cardinal George Pell’s appeal on August 21 at 9:30 a.m. local time, according to Australian media. The verdict will be live-streamed, as before, on the Supreme Court’s website.
The appeal was heard over the course of two days in June, with Justices Anne Ferguson, Chris Maxwell, and Mark Winberg presiding. Justices may choose to order a retrial of the case, overturn it, or uphold the guilty verdict.
A synopsis of the appeal Cardinal Pell’s legal team made includes three main points for overturning the conviction. The first was the exclusion, by Judge Peter Kidd, of a 19-minute video that displayed in detail where individuals would have been located in the cathedral during the time of the alleged sexual assaults. The second argument was that Cardinal Pell was not arraigned directly in front of a jury – a “fundamental irregularity” in legal proceedings. The third cited that the jury itself reached an unreasonable verdict.
READ: Cardinal Pell awaits verdict after prosecutor stumbles in appeal hearing
Questions continue to mount about whether Cardinal Pell’s attempted clean-up of Vatican finances – including a deep-diving external audit of the Vatican Bank by Price Waterhouse Coopers – is connected to the sudden, unsubstantiated investigation (“Operation Tethering”) of his person, and the later charges of sexual assault.
Click here for a timeline of events, compiled by Edward Pentin, leading up to this appeal and here for background information on the financial scandals still plaguing the Vatican.
Catholicism Pure & Simple 
We’ll pray that justice is finally obtained for Cardinal Pell, who suffers in jail under the shadow verdicts of a ‘merciful’ man. Meanwhile, Boston Pilot (Cardinal O’Malley’s archdiocesan paper, “Pope Francis approved new statutes for the Institute for the Works of Religion (Vatican Bank) that include structural changes and a mandatory external audit. Aug.10” I find it difficult to comprehend, not being an international banker, why the external audit of Price Waterhouse Cooper, the auditor chosen by Cardinal Pell, was ‘bounced’ by the Pope himself. Cardinal Pell found a HUGE amount of money. Now that the danger of being shown up by an internationally respected financial firm (PWC) it is safe to ‘unleash’ Cardinal Pell? I don’t know. Is there a tie that binds Australia to Rome? Mafia? Please God … solve this and release Cardinal Pell. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.+
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I like the new picture at the top of your website. Never really cottoned to the picture of Our Lord with snow on his head and shoulders. Love you all.
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Thanks JH. Great to hear from you again!
Hope all’s well with you and yours. xx
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Thank you, MMVC. For readers in the (eastern) Western Hemisphere (e.g. New York, Toronto…) the Court of Appeal in Melbourne is scheduled to commence livestream reading of their judgment this evening at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
https://www.streaming.scvwebcast1.com/judgment-in-the-matter-of-george-pell-v-r-21-august-19/
I believe only the judges sitting on the bench will be shown, not George Cardinal Pell or others in the courtroom, which is a blessing (this is not a TV drama). I hope that Jabba’s pilgrimage and our prayers help bear up Cardinal Pell, whatever his fate may be. St Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us.
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The moment I heard it was going to be livestreamed, I had a strong feeling it was going to be yet another kangaroo court media circus travesty.
And so it was.
Guilty verdict confirmed, and never mind that the whole preposterous accusation is founded upon a narrative that is materially impossible to be a truthful one.
Shame on Australia, shame on the Australian “justice” system.
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