Cardinal George Pell says he holds no ill will towards those who accused him of child sexual abuse, but was “incensed” at the way prosecutors pursued him.
The 78-year-old former Vatican finance chief was released from a maximum-security gaol on April 7 after the High Court of Australia acquitted him on five historical child sexual abuse charges.
In his first TV interview since then, Cardinal Pell has told Sky News he feared he could be pursued for further prosecutions, with media reports that Victorian police have launched a fresh investigation into child abuse allegations against him dating back to the 1970s.
Cardinal Pell suggested he "wouldn't be entirely surprised" if police had an agenda against him, and wondered whether the complainant, a former choirboy, had been put up to making allegations.
“I don’t know (what motivated him),” Cardinal Pell said. “I wonder whether he was used. I don’t know what the poor fellow was up to."
Cardinal Pell spoke of his 405 days behind bars, before the High Court of Australia quashed five counts of sexually abusing two 13-year-old choirboys in the 1990s.
The High Court acquitted Pell after finding a jury should have held a reasonable doubt as to his guilt.
He said he was well treated, and spoke of the anger and anguish of fellow prisoners damaged by the effects of “ice”, crystal methamphetamine.
He said his daily routine included prayers and exercise, reading and writing. He received about 4,000 letters during his 13 months in gaol.
Cardinal Pell also revealed he is ashamed of the Catholic Church for the way it dealt with the “cancer” of child sex abuse in the past.
“There are two levels. One is the crimes itself, … and then treating it so inadequately for so long,” he said, adding that the Church’s many failures to act still haunt him.
“I totally condemn those sorts of activities, and the damage that it’s done to people,” he said.
“One of the things that grieves me is the suggestion that I’m anti-victim, or not sufficiently sympathetic.”
During the interview, Cardinal George Pell has revealed who paid for his multi-million dollar legal battle with “very generous” Christians picking up a large chunk of the tab and the rest coming from his life savings.
Cardinal Pell shot down rumours the Catholic Church footed the bill saying it didn’t contribute a cent towards his legal fight.
Since his release from the maximum security Barwon Prison in Victoria on April 7, Cardinal Pell has also penned an Easter message in a national newspaper titled: "In the suffering, we find redemption."
Pell labelled his initial conviction a disappointment but said he will turn the prison experience to “good purpose”.
“I knew God was with me, but I didn’t know what he was up to, although I realised he has left all of us free,” he wrote in The Weekend Australian.
“But with every blow it was a consolation to know I could offer it to God for some good purpose like turning the mass of suffering into spiritual energy.”
Cardinal Pell is staying in a seminary in Sydney and said he expects to make the harbour city his long-term home.
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