Sydney, Australia, Jun 24, 2019 / 23:03 pm
While Cardinal George Pell of Australia is appealing his sexual abuse conviction in court, he and his supporters are making arrangements for a "safe hideaway" for the cleric, should his conviction be overturned.
According to The Australian, the risk of backlash and threats against the cardinal are so high that he is seeking a "secure compound" in which to live, should his appeal succeed in court. Some possibilities for this place would include an undisclosed location in New South Wales in southeastern Australia, or somewhere in Rome, where he previously lived and worked as prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, the report noted. He would not reassume his Vatican position.
The Australian noted that one possible safe place for Pell to live, should his conviction overturn, would be a seminary in Sydney, where he stayed as he awaited trial. The difficulty with placing the high-profile cardinal in Australia is that he is easily recognized.
After having been convicted of five counts of sexual abuse of a minor in December 2018, Cardinal Pell was sentenced to serve six years in prison in March. Pell has been held in solitary confinement in the Melbourne Assessment Prison since then.