After Pell acquittal, pope compares 'unjust sentences' to persecution of Jesus
Source: Reuters
WORLD NEWS APRIL 7, 2020 / 2:34 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
After Pell acquittal, pope compares 'unjust sentences' to persecution of Jesus
Philip Pullella
4 MIN READ
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Just hours after Australias highest court threw out the sex abuse conviction of the Vaticans former treasurer, Pope Francis offered his morning Mass for all those who suffer from unjust sentences, which he compared to the persecution of Jesus.
The courts ruling quashed convictions that Cardinal George Pell sexually assaulted the two choir boys in the 1990s. It allowed the 78-year-old to walk free from jail, ending the case of the most senior figure accused in the global scandal of historical sex abuse that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church.
I would like to pray today for all those people who suffer unjust sentences resulting from intransigence, Francis said, speaking before the start of the Mass. Francis did not mention Pell, the cardinal who was put in charge of Vatican finances by Francis in 2014.
Francis compared the suffering of those inflicted with unjust sentences today to the persecution of Jesus by Jewish community elders, with obstinacy and rage even though he was innocent.
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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-abuse-pell-pope-mass/after-pell-acquittal-pope-compares-unjust-sentences-to-persecution-of-jesus-idUSKBN21P0QF