RETURN TO WELCOME PAGE

Australia’s Cardinal Pell has been Acquitted, SNAP responds

We are disappointed that Cardinal George Pell has successfully escaped his conviction on sexually abusing two choirboys and will be freed from prison. In this case, the powerful have won and the prize is the continuation of the church’s tradition of abuse obfuscation and minimization. Our hearts ache for the surviving victim of Cardinal Pell and we hope that this disappointing ruling does not deter other victims from coming forward to report their abuse.

This case saw testimony from twelve witnesses, including the lone surviving victim. We are saddened that this testimony and the sentence handed down by the jury that first heard the evidence has been tossed out. The High Court has ruled that Australian citizens duly selected to form a jury of peers are actually not peers of the accused, the High Court are his peers. We believe that this ruling will make others lose their faith in the criminal justice system and will send the message that survivors should stay hidden and silent rather than come forward and seek justice. It also sends the message that in Australia the citizen-jury, the representatives of ‘society’, is subordinate if not needed in criminal trials; cases should be directly transferred to the High Court for their administrative review and decision. Citizen-participation in the formation of societal rules and their enforcement is weakened by this action.

It is notable that this decision is handed down just as another Australian bishop has announced that he will step aside from his post as the Vatican investigates allegations of abuse made against him. We fear that, regardless of the outcome of that investigation, that the survivors will have little chance for justice and that the status quo will remain.

Hopefully survivors in Australia will not despair but continue to come forward and make reports to law enforcement in the hopes that their allegations are taken more seriously.

CONTACT: Steven Spaner, SNAP Australia Coordinator (snapspaner@gmail.com, +1 636.433.2511),  Zach Hiner, Executive Director (zhiner@snapnetwork.org, +1-517-974-9009)

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org; our Australia website is SNAPAustralia.org)