CNA Staff, Apr 8, 2020 / 14:02 pm
St. Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne was vandalized overnight Wednesday, hours after Cardinal George Pell was acquitted by Australia's High Court of a sexual abuse conviction and released from prison.
The door to the cathedral was spray-painted with a cartoon image of a devil, along with the message "ROT IN HELL, PELL." Other doors were daubed with upside-down crosses and the words "NO JUSTICE," "PAEDO RAPIST," and: "The law protects the powerful."
Archbishop Peter Comensoli of Melbourne told Australian media that while he was upset about the vandalism, he was "not entirely surprised."
"There remains such strong emotions around all of these matters," Comensoli told Australian news network 3AW.