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Inside the VaticanMarch 14, 2019
Australian Cardinal George Pell leaves the Melbourne Magistrates Court Oct. 6. (CNS photo/Mark Dadswell, Reuters)

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” Gerry and I update you on Australian Cardinal George Pell and several other high-profile cases of abuse. We’ll also talk about Pope Francis’ sixth anniversary as pope.

Cardinal Pell was sentenced to six years in prison for abusing two choirboys in Melbourne Cathedral in the late 1990s. He’ll be eligible for parole in three years and eight months, and he plans to appeal the court’s decision in June. We’ll look at his legacy as a reformer of Vatican finances as well as the significance of his recent conviction.

We’ll also look at several new cases that might show us how authorities inside and outside of the church are holding bishops accountable for sexual abuse and its cover-up.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope on March 13, 2013. In our final story, Gerry and I will look back on the impact Francis has made in his six years as pope.

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Paul Mclaughlin
5 years 7 months ago

Frankly, American political and law enforcement officials are nearly as much to blame as the bishops, et al. When the crisis broke with Porter in Fall River, no one investigation, arrest or trial was held that focused on those who covered-up the mess. It took until 2018 for the PA AG to issue a report, which by then had allegations thet extended beyond the statue of limitations.

WHERE WERE THEY OVER THE PAST THREE DECADES? WHY DID THEY GO INTO HIDING AND FAILED TO DO THEIR JOBS? WHY HASN’T THEIR COVER-UP BEEN INVESTIGATED?

Law and the rest should have been round up and arrested. There were laws on the books that would have applied. Sexual and child abuse was illegal then. Hush money was illegal, covering-up crimes was illegal....

I am not ignoring wrong of Bishops and clergy, but this grandstanding by politicians is bull crap.

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