Survivor says Pell verdict brings hope for abuse victims

Survivor and founder of Beyond Abuse Steve Fisher said the verdict would give a lot of people who have survived abuse the hope they will be heard and get the justice they deserve. 

Once one of the most powerful members of the Catholic Church, former Vatican treasurer Cardinal Pell has been found guilty of five counts of abuse against two 13-year-old boys in Melbourne's St Patrick's Cathedral in 1996 and 1997. 

The guilty verdict, which was delivered in Melbourne on December 11 last year, is only now able to be reported on because a suppression order relating to a further trial was lifted on Tuesday, with the second trial found to have insufficient evidence. 

Mr Fisher said the guilty verdict was something that has been a long time coming. 

"It's a huge day in the lives of any survivor," Mr Fisher said. 

"We hope that the judge will set a precedent and really send a message to people in high power positions that they are not exempt from the law, which Cardinal Pell thought he was. The Catholic Church thinks they are.

"I would imagine it would encourage other survivors to come forward because one of the hardest things when you come forward against somebody in a position of power is that you are not going to be believed.

"If you come forward and you are credible, you will be believed. It doesn't matter who it is, they will prosecute."

Cardinal Pell is the most senior official of the Catholic Church to be convicted of child sex crimes. 

"This is a first in the world and it's amazing that is has happened in Australia," Mr Fisher said. 

Archbishop of Hobart Julian Porteous said he endorsed the statement issued by the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Mark Coleridge, and he had no further comment. 

Archbishop Coleridge said in a statement the news of Cardinal Pell's conviction on historical child sexual abuse charges had shocked many across Australia and around the world. 

"The same legal system that delivered the verdict will consider the appeal that the Cardinal's legal team has lodged," Archbishop Coleridge said. 

"Our hope is, at all times, that through this process justice will be served.

"We pray for all those who have been abused and their loved ones, and we commit ourselves anew to doing everything possible to ensure that the church is a safe place for all, especially the young and the vulnerable."

Cardinal Pell is facing jail time and will be sentenced on Wednesday.