Call it my little act of faith in Cardinal George Pell's innocence in the crimes an Australian court has apparently convicted him for in a trial held in secret under the most outrageous
circumstances ever heard of in th Western world that is supposed to be a civilized, democratic and open society. I went to no small pain to reproduce this Australian news item to
show how the Australian media - who had been in the forefront of persecuting Pell with all sorts of allegations for over a decade now - are keeping to the letter of the Melbourne
court's total gag order on any reporting of the Pell case. And to ask that we say a prayer for Cardinal Pell during this time of great trial from the Lord. Note there is not
the slightest reference in the story to the trial or even why Pell is in Australia, instead leading with the reference to his 'removal from the pope's inner circle.
CNA had the best roundup of the kangarro court verdict in this story by Ed Condon...
Reports of Pell guilty verdict emerge, despite gag order
The reported conviction has not yet been confirmed by the Australian judiciary,
and the gag order on Australian media could remain in place for several months.
by Ed Condon
Sydney, Australia, Dec 12, 2018 CNA)- Cardinal George Pell has been convicted by an Australian court on charges of sexual abuse of minors, according to media reports and sources close to the cardinal.
A judicial gag order has restricted Australian media coverage of the trial since June.
Despite the gag order, a story published Dec. 11 on the Daily Beast website first reported that a unanimous verdict of guilty had been returned by a jury on charges that Pell sexually abused two altar servers in the late 1990s, while he was Archbishop of Melbourne.
The verdict reportedly followed three days of deliberations by the jury – the second to hear the case. An earlier hearing of the case is reported to have ended in early autumn with a mistrial, after jurors were unable to reach a verdict.
In October, two sources close to Cardinal Pell, members of neither his legal team nor the Catholic hierarchy in Australia, told CNA that the first hearing of the case had ended in a mistrial due to a deadlocked jury.
In remarks to CNA Dec. 12, those sources independently confirmed this week’s report that a guilty verdict had been reached.
The reported conviction has not yet been confirmed by the Australian judiciary, and the gag order on Australian media could remain in place for several months.
Pell will reportedly be sentenced in early 2019. He will not be incarcerated prior to his sentencing.
Citing deference to the gag order, the Vatican has declined to comment on reports of the guilty verdict.
“The Holy See has the utmost respect for the Australian courts. We are aware there is a suppression order in place and we respect that order,” Vatican spokesman Greg Burke told reporters Dec 12.
Pell has been accused of multiple instances of sexual abuse of minors. In May, lawyers for the cardinal petitioned the County Court of Victoria to split the allegations into two trials, one dealing with the accusations from Melbourne, and another dealing with accusations related to his time as a priest in Ballarat in the 1970s.
As the trial for the Melbourne allegations began in June, the judge imposed a sweeping injunction preventing media from reporting on the progress of the case. The gag order reportedly remains in force, over concerns that the verdict could influence the outcome of the second trial, which is expected to be heard early in 2019.
Pell has been on leave from his position as prefect of the Holy See’s Secretariat for the Economy since 2017. Pell asked Pope Francis to allow him to step back from his duties to travel home to Australia to defend himself against the charges, which he has consistently denied.
Prior to his appointment to the Secretariat for the Economy in 2014, Pell served as the Archbishop of Sydney.
In October, Pope Francis removed Pell, along with Cardinal Javier Errazuriz and Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo, from the C9 Council of Cardinals charged with helping the pope draft a new constitution for the Holy See’s governing structure.
In April 2018, Robert Richter, the lead attorney on Pell’s legal team, refuted the allegations made against Pell.
“The allegations are a product of fantasy, the product of some mental problems that the complainant may or may not have, or just pure invention in order to punish the representative of the Catholic Church in this country,” Richter said.
Richter further said that the accusations were “not to be believed,” and were “improbable, if not impossible.”
Until the imposition of the gag order in June, Pell had been the subject of sustained media attention in Australia, prompting the order. The extent of hostile attention directed at Pell by several Australian outlets, even prior to the accusations being made, led to a public debate in some sections of the Australian media about whether it would be possible to find an impartial jury for the cardinal.
In remarks to CNA, one source called the integrity of the proceeding into question, calling the trial a “farce” and a “witch hunt.” He said that Australian prosecutors were determined to secure a conviction, despite the earlier mistrial.
“They kept going until they got the jury who’d give them what they want,” the source told CNA.
Last week, another Australian court overturned the recent conviction of the former Archbishop of Melbourne, Philip Wilson, on charges he failed to report complaints of sexual abuse.
Newcastle District Court Judge Roy Ellis said Dec. 6 that the Crown had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Archbishop Wilson did not report abuse committed by Fr. James Fletcher, when Fletcher was charged in 2004 with child abuse which occurred between 1989 and 1991.
The judge also noted the possibility of undue media influence on the case.
“This is not a criticism of media, but intended or not, the mere presence of large amounts of media from all around Australia and the world carries with it a certain amount of pressure on the court,” Ellis stated.
The heavy media presence “may amount to perceived pressure for a court to reach a conclusion which seems to be consistent with the direction of public opinion, rather than being consistent with the rule of law that requires a court to hand down individual justice in its decision-making processes.”
“The potential for media pressure to impact judicial independence may be subtle or indeed subversive in the sense that it is the elephant in the room that no one sees or acknowledges or wants to see or acknowledge,” Ellis said.
He added that Archbishop Wilson could not be convicted merely because the “Catholic Church has a lot to answer for in terms of its historical self-protective approach” to clerical sex abuse. “Philip Wilson when he appears before this court is simply an individual who has the same legal rights as every other person in our community.”
“It is not for me to punish the Catholic Church for its institutional moral deficits, or to punish Philip Wilson for the sins of the now deceased James Fletcher by finding Philip Wilson guilty, simply on the basis that he is a Catholic priest.” [Thank God there is at least one Australian judge who has kept his integrity.]
If the decision is confirmed, Pell can appeal to the Supreme Court in Victoria, and from there to the Australian High Court.
The 'best' commentary I have seen so far on the travesty of justice taking place in Melbourne, Australia, forms the latter part of a rather comprehensive overview of the evil George Soros's international network to subvert leading institutions and nations to his personal but global ultra-liberal agenda. It would be difficult to doubt that the Bergoglio Vatican has become one of those all-too-willing Soros puppets. (The first part of the blogpost cites sources for what it discloses about Soros's network)... Of course, my strong personal biases guide the choice of resources I use for this forum, and I a grateful that blogger Martinez has been punctilious in citing his sources and providing links to them for anyone who wishes to investigate. Much of it has been an open secret in the past almost six years now, but no responsible Vaticanista or other invetigattive journalist has seen it fit to follow all these leads and verify the claims and allegations. WHY NOT??? I don't think it's because the big names who are in a position to do the story do not wish to receive a Pulitzer Prize for reporting, but that none of them is really interested in the truth, especially if it nullifies the narrative they have woven and framed for Bergoglio and his pontificate.
'Deep State', complicit media, Soros and
why the pope hasn't even questioned Pell's 'secret trial'
December 14, 2018
...The network of billionaire lobbyist George Soros, who 'pressures governments to adopt high immigration targets and porous border policies' through his Open Society Foundations, has influence in Australia though GetUp!, as Jennifer Oriel wrote Monday for
The Australian...
As journalist Oriel showed "the Australia arm of Soros’s transnational network" has been "effective [in] reframing" how the Australian complicit media covers the news including, it appears,
its complete non-protest against the denial of freedom of the press by the country's court system in the trial of Cardinal George Pell on sex abuse accusations.
Doesn't the Australian media know that "the principle of 'open justice'... dates back to Magna Carta" and "secret trials have been a characteristic of almost every dictatorship of the modern era"?
- "Secret trials have been a characteristic of almost every dictatorship of the modern era, but even in democratic regimes secret trials have taken place, usually cited by state authorities as necessary for the same reason as those in dictatorships—national security."
- "The UK’s justice system rests on several important principles, including the principle of ‘open justice’. Openness means that the public generally has an interest in knowing about matters of significance, such as the arguments in and results of trials. This principle dates back to Magna Carta. It ensures fairness and confidence in the whole justice system. Justice is not only done, but seen to be done." (Human Rights News, Views & Info.org, "What Are 'Secret Trials’ And Do They Violate Human Rights?," 2nd August 2016)
As Catholic journalist Phil Lawler reported,
the Australia court system and, it appears, the non-protesting Australian complicit media are apparently against "open justice" and freedom of the press and therefore want "to keep things secret".
"Australian prosecutors — who still have not offered any details about their case against the cardinal [Cardinal George Pell] —recently asked the trial court to ban all news coverage and conduct the entire proceedings in secrecy."
"... It’s not the cardinal who wants to avoid public scrutiny at a trial. On the contrary, Cardinal Pell has consistently indicated that he wants a chance to clear his name. It’s the prosecution that has asked for a secret trial."
'It’s difficult to discern the exact purpose of the prosecution’s request. But let’s put it this way: Ordinarily, the people who want to keep things secret are the people who ask to keep things secret." [https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/the-city-gates.cfm?id=1586]
Gloria.tv thinks the Australian "secret mock trial" of Cardinal Pell is a "kangaroo court" that might "take revenge on the Cardinal" if it publishes news of the trail:
"On September 20, under this URL a [truthful] piece of news about the ongoing secret mock trial against Cardinal George Pell was published. The news was based on first hand information."
"On September 21, 03:59:07 GMT Gloria.tv received an email from Nevena Spirovska, a public affairs manager of the County Court of Victoria, Austrialia, who claimed that 'this article likely constitutes a breach of the suppression order issued by His Honour Chief Judge Kidd on 25 June 2018.'"
"Spirovska asked Gloria.tv to “immediately remove the article in question”. She added Kidd’s Proceeding Suppression Order as an attachment."
"It is unlikely that Kidd’s order may lawfully raise the claim of a worldwide jurisdiction. Nevertheless Gloria.tv complies with it, not because it has respect for the Australian judical system that has compromised itself through the kangaroo court against Cardinal Pell, but because there is a real danger that this system will (again) take revenge on the Cardinal."
The final question is why didn't Pope Francis call for "open justice" and question as well as protest against the secret trail of Pell?
The answer may be in the following:
Ganesh Sahathevan is a Fellow at the (American Center for Democracy) ACD’s Economic Warfare Institute.
The ACD/EWI team specializes in economic warfare, purposeful interference in civilian infrastructure, including the financial markets, transnational criminal and terrorist organizations. ACD fellow Sahathevan said
Pope Francis's closest collaborator has "an illegal slush fund financed by George Soros":
"Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, the so-called "Vice Pope" given his close association with Pope Francis, has refused to answer questions concerning his work with a number of NGOs funded by billionaire George Soros. Cardinal Oscar has also refused to answer queries concerning any funding he, or entities associated with him, may have received from Soros..."
"... It does appear as if the "Vice Pope" is on some campaign to change the Vatican from within, and that he is doing so with what amounts to an illegal slush fund financed by George Soros." (realpolitikasia.blogspot.com, "'Vice Pope' Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga does not deny being funded by George Soros,and working with the 'Catholic Spring' movement." [http://realpolitikasia.blogspot.com.au/2017/02/vice-pope-cardinal-oscar-rodriguez.html?m=1]
Financial expert Sahathevan also reported that the most powerful official in Francis's Vatican, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, apparently knew that funds not appearing on "official balance sheets" could be illegal and he may be covering up illegal slush funds and asked Francis & Parolin to "come clean":
"In the above story it was concluded that Oscar appears to be in charge of a slush fund financed by George Soros, which is intended to be used for purposes Oscar sees fit, which may include financing of a 'Catholic Spring.'"
"While that story was the result of an independent investigation by this writer, it does seem that the Vatican's Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, Cardinal George Pell, may have uncovered the existence of similar financial structures, even if he did not quite understand what it is he had uncovered."
"In late 2014 Pell announced that he had 'discovered that ... some hundreds of millions of euros were tucked away in particular sectional accounts (of departments within the Vatican ) and did not appear on the Vatican's balance sheet.'
"What was even more interesting than that revelation was the reaction of the Vatican's Director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J, presumably acting under instructions from the Vatican;s Secretary Of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin:"
'It should be observed that Cardinal Pell has not referred to illegal, illicit or poorly administered funds, but rather funds that do not appear on the official balance sheets of the Holy See or of Vatican City State, and which have become known to the Secretariat for the Economy during the current process of examination and revision of Vatican administration...'"
"This statement was curious for Pell did not actually say that the accounts were 'illegal.' If anything Pell seemed not to understand that financial entities of any sort often have secret reserves, In fact, Pell concluded with some satisfaction that his discovery meant that the Vatican was well able to finance its activities..."
"..It does seem as if there is some concern within the Vatican that slush funds such as that which appear to be controlled by Cardinal Oscar, that ought to have been reported and accounted for as required by Canon Law, remain secret. Wikileaks and in time other publications are going to make that task near impossible, and hence it is best that all concerned come clean."
(realpolitikasia.blogspot.com, "Vice Pope" Cardinal Oscar's Soros funding-Has the Vatican Bank acted as conduit , is it in breach of international AML,CTF and KYC regulations?,"February 14, 2017), [http://realpolitikasia.blogspot.com/2017/02/vice-pope-cardinal-oscars-soros-funding_14.html?m=1]
Sahathevan could have predicted that Francis's chief adviser later in 2017, again, would be accused of financial corruption, as reported by Edward Pentin:
"One of Pope Francis’ chief advisers on Church reform has rejected allegations of financial corruption made in an Italian publication this week, but questions remain over diocesan accounting procedures...Honduran Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodriguez Maradiaga... The documents, which the Register has obtained, show general figures denoting gross income for the archdiocese and spending running into millions of dollars, but with no particulars."
"One source with a detailed knowledge of the issue told the Register the documentation omits $1.3 million that the Honduran government gave the archdiocese to be spent on Church projects."[http://m.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/cardinal-maradiaga-denies-financial-allegations-but-questions-remain-unansw#.WnVUC3OIYwh]
What financial expert Sahathevan apparently didn't know was that Parolin and Pell were in a power struggle when he reported the above. Cardinal Pell was supposed to reform the Vatican corruption including the Secretary of State's finances.
According to the Catholic Herald, Parolin, in a "series of power struggles" ended the outside audit and Vatican financial reform "even before" Pell was forced to return to Australia on old sex-abuse allegations. ("How Cardinal Parolin won the Vatican civil war," November 9, 2017)
In the Pell power struggle, shady and suspicious actions were taken by a employee of Parolin (Archbishop Angelo Becciu) on former Auditor General Libero Milone. The Auditor suspecting that he was being spied on brought in a external contractor who "determined" his computer was "infected with file copying spyware" according to LifeSiteNews.com in its September 28, 2017 article "Former Vatican auditor accused of spying says 'shady games' going on in Rome."
The website The Eye Witness reported on shady and suspicious spying done on Pope Benedict and Pope Francis before and after the last conclave:
"It is now revealed that the NSA was tapping the phones and communications of the entire Vatican establishment, including Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis before, during and after the Conclave. Is such a thing possible? Here is one of many reports:""http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_10_30/Nothing-is-sacred-to-US-NSA-snoops-on-Pope-7540/..."
In another report, from Al-Jazeera we read:
"Bergoglio ' had been a person of interest to the American secret services since 2005, according to Wikileaks' it said."
"The bugged conversations were divided into four categories: 'leadership intentions', 'threats to financial systems', 'foreign policy objectives' and 'human rights', it claimed."
"Why the American Secret Service considered Cardinal Bergoglio a person of interest for the past eight years is an interesting question although the Secret Service like all other US agencies is widely believed to have been corrupted, so it remains unclear as to how one should assess this piece of information or what it was about the activities of the Cardinal that prompted their extreme interest. Still it is curious to say the very least..."
"...But if the Conclave was compromised in some way (and even if it wasn't we do know that the NSA has been listening to electronic communications of high Churchmen in Rome and probably everywhere else) then this opens up a whole new avenue of inquiry." [http://theeye-witness.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-compromised-conclave.html?m=1]
One reason why the NSA could reasonably have been spying on Pope Benedict and Cardinal Bergoglio who would become Pope Francis at that conclave could be that the spy agency was corrupted by the Obama administration.
It is not unreasonable to assume that the administration wanted Bergoglio to replace Benedict.
Benedict's agenda put anti-abortion and moral pro-family issues as top priorities while Francis gives lip services to those issues, but sees them as secondary to his agenda which is almost identical to the Obama administration and Soros agendas such unrestricted mass immigration (See:
catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-dark-lord-soros-his-servant-white_27.ht...
Zero Hedge shows that NSA became a servant of the Democrat's agenda and it's FISA abuses:
"Donald Trump must veto reauthorized NSA spying powers which passed both the House and the Senate yesterday without a single reform, in light of an explosive four-page memo said to detail sweeping FISA Abuses by the FBI, DOJ and the Obama Administration during and after the 2016 presidential election, says former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden." [https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-19/snowden-trump-must-veto-reauthorized-nsa-spying-powers-light-fisa-memo]
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 17/12/2018 05:54]