Cardinal Pell ‘Became the Scapegoat for His Church’: Andrew Bolt
To those people celebrating Cardinal Pell’s death today…
Congratulations, you are celebrating the death of an INNOCENT man, who spent 400 days in jail and had his life ruined over FALSE allegations.
You fell for one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in Australia’s history…
Cardinal George Pell “should never have been convicted” with his persecution representing “one of this nation’s greatest miscarriages of justice,” according to Sky News host Andrew Bolt.
Mr Bolt said a “witch hunt” has permeated facets of society against the Cardinal, which has subsequently “ruined his reputation, destroyed his brilliant career” and “robbed him” of his freedom.
On Tuesday, Cardinal Pell had his sexual abuse conviction overturned by Australia’s highest court, in a unanimous decision, after having spent 405 days in jail following an initial ruling which had found him guilty in 2018.
Cardinal Pell had come out and said he holds “no ill will toward my accuser” adding “I don’t want my acquittal to add to the hurt and bitterness so many feel; there is certainly hurt and bitterness enough”.
Mr Bolt said shame should fall upon the “state institutions which tried so destroy a man loathed by the Left as a conservative and chosen by the mob to be the scapegoat for his church.”
“Shame also on the ABC, our national broadcaster, for hysterically promoting damaging claims against Pell that all turned out to be too absurd to lead to charges, or too flimsy to go to trial, or now, too weak to survive an appeal”.
Mr Bolt also showed a recreation of the alleged timeline of events which were levelled against Cardinal Pell saying, “neither Pell, the supposed criminal, nor his victims could have been at the scene of the crime at the only time the crime was possible”.
“It seems the High Court agreed”.
Here’s what others had to say:
redfern17
Well said Andrew. You have been one of the few brave voices in the media in this saga. John Silvester (who should know a thing or two about the criminal justice system after reporting on it for 40 years ) voiced grave concerns about the way the conviction was arrived at, which should give even partisan voices pause to consider the wider implications of what the conviction ( had it stood) would have meant for the burden of proof in cases going forward.
Nabil Dehaini
Today was a fine display of jurisprudence by the High Court.
I was really surprised by the decision of the Victorian court of appeals, that was truly perverse. If you get accused of sexual misconduct in Victoria (and you’re innocent) you’re screwed, we have a community of juries who are eager to convict and judges in the appeal courts who are willing to turn a blind eye. Very troubling times.
Marty Ollier
Glad to see a step toward innocent until proven guilty rather than guilty until proven innocent.
Pillock
People need to stop being so paranoid and acting irrationally. I remember hearing a story of a mother in a department store who thought a man was taking photos of her children, turns out he had the cameras reversed and was taking a selfie in front of a Star Wars cardboard cutout. Did the mother check first? No she didn’t instead she takes a photo of the man and posts it on social media labelling him a paedophile. It was later sorted out, but damage has already been done.
Alexa
Thank you – you are the only decent media outlet that has spoken up for this brave, innocent man – woe to the all the media and government officials who have spent their miserable lives trying to destroy him – God wins!!!
xpusostomos
Even if he could have committed the crime, (which seemingly he couldn’t) we should never convict people on the unsupported testimony of a single person.. especially from decades ago.
GuerillaCatty73
Bolt at his best. Very nicely done, covering everything lightly, bringing it home at the end. This was a deeply troubling moment in our society’s history.
Tavuzzi Pust
The Milligan book has had only one effect: no one will take Melbourne UP that published it as a remotely serious academic press ever again.
theflaca
Always remember that the High Court determined the calculus of doubt was not reasonable. This was the basis of the dismissal.
Resources: https://youtu.be/bP1HN6T2FG8
