https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/cardinal-pell-to-face-trial-on-criminal-charges-in-australia/ar-AAwwH95?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=U346DHP

Pell, Pope Francis' former finance minister, was charged last June with sexually abusing multiple people in his Australian home state of Victoria. The details of the allegations against the 76-year-old have yet to be released to the public, though police have described the charges as "historical" sexual assault offenses — meaning the crimes allegedly occurred decades ago.

Advocates for abuse victims have long railed against Francis' decision to appoint Pell to the high-ranking position in the first place. At the time of his promotion, Pell was already facing allegations that he had mishandled cases of clergy abuse during his time leading the church in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia's largest cities.

So far, Francis has withheld judgment of Pell, saying he wants to wait for justice to run its course. And he did not force the cardinal to resign, though Pell took an immediate leave of absence so he could return to Australia to fight the charges. Pell said he intends to continue his work as a prefect of the church's economy ministry once the case is resolved.

In recent years, Pell's actions as archbishop came under particular scrutiny by a government-authorized investigation into how the Catholic Church and other institutions have responded to the sexual abuse of children.

In testimony to the commission in 2016, Pell conceded that he had made mistakes by often believing priests over people who said they had been abused. And he vowed to help end a rash of suicides that has plagued abuse victims in his hometown of Ballarat.

His lawyers argued in court that Pell was targeted for "special treatment" by detectives from a police task force that investigated historical sex abuse. Police witnesses denied that accusation.

The case places both the cardinal and the pope in potentially perilous territory. For Pell, the charges are a threat to his freedom, his reputation and his career. For Francis, they are a threat to his credibility, given he famously promised a "zero tolerance" policy for sex abuse in the church.

Pell's lawyers told the court in February that the first complainant approached police in 2015, 40 years after the alleged crimes, in response to media reports about the royal commission.

PG related because well, priests and sexual abuse and children. And here we go again with Pell's lawyers implying there is something odd about waiting 40 years. It has taken that long for these victims to finally muster the courage to tell about the horrors Pell visited upon them.

The Gall.