Cardinal Pell Lands in Sydney. Source NY Times

 

 

The Australian Federal Police were waiting to escort Cardinal George Pell from Sydney Airport when he disembarked from a flight this morning.

 

Cardinal Pell, Australia’s highest-ranking Roman Catholic official, has returned to the country from the Vatican less than two weeks after the Victoria police confirmed that he’d been charged with sexual abuse offenses.

 

A passenger aboard the flight told The Sydney Morning Herald that Cardinal Pell, who traveled in business class, appeared “calm and not stressed.” The cardinal left the airport through a side entrance and did not answer any questions.

 

Cardinal Pell arrived just before 6 a.m. from Singapore. A spokesman explained in a statement that the cardinal had staggered his flights home on the advice of his doctors. The spokesman said that his return today “should not be a surprise.”

 

“When he was told of the charges by the Victoria police, Cardinal Pell said in Rome he totally rejected the allegations, was completely innocent of the charges and would return to Australia to vigorously defend himself and clear his name,” the statement said.

 

What happens next?

 

“It is rare for a cardinal, a prince of the church, to be accused of sexual abuse,” Jacqueline Williams wrote in our initial coverage of the charges.

 

Cardinal Pell has repeatedly denied the allegations against him. He will face the Melbourne Magistrates Court on July 26 for a filing hearing.

 

Cardinal Pell moved to the Vatican in 2014, leaving his post as the archbishop of Sydney.

 

In late June, Anthony Fisher, the current archbishop of Sydney, confirmed that the church would not be covering the cardinal’s legal fees. We reported on the Australian Catholics who have stepped up to do so.