News: Australia's Cardinal Pell sentenced to 6 years jail for sexually abusing choir boys, page-30

Permit me a couple of observations.

1) all round applause and hats off to County Court of Victoria Chief Judge Peter Kidd. I didn’t attend the court but from media reports he handled the difficult case in exemplary fashion. In the past, it would have been so easy to deliver a suspended sentence, home custody, or some other way to moderate gaol time. But Kidd heard the evidence and rightly concluded Pell needed a long holiday for raping the boys. Kidd’s legal style gives me tremendous confidence in the integrity of Australia’s legal system. Thank you sir.

2) Much has been made of Pell’s not guilty plea, particularly by the paid tongues in Murdoch’s Limited News empire, such as chief fans Andrew Bolt and Miranda Devine. Against the backdrop of the guilty verdict, it’s plain to see Pell really didn’t have any choice when it came to a plea: he could only plead not guilty. Could anyone seriously imagine a Vatican Treasurer and Australia’s pre-eminent churchman pleading guilty to raping boys? That defies comprehension. No matter this meant the surviving victim of Pell’s assault would have to relive the experience in the witness box. The Catholic church never gave a toss about children in its care. church policy meant senior members of the clergy - Pell amongst them - conspired to pervert the course of justice by failing to report sexual assaults by clergy to the police.

pell plead guilty? Hasn’t got the guts. Just an empty vessel filled to overflowing with church ideology and hate. Byebye George, we won’t be seeing you. You won’t be missed.