澳大利亞樞機主教被控性侵首次出庭

Australian Cardinal George Pell, one of the Vatican's highest-ranking officials and a close adviser to Pope Francis, made his first appearance in an Australian courtroom on charges of sexual abuse.

The 76-year-old clergyman said nothing during a brief hearing in a Melbourne courtroom Wednesday that focused on routine legal matters. He has been charged with "historical sexual offenses" involving multiple people dating back several years.

Pell's lawyer, Robert Richter, told the court his client would plead not guilty to the charges, even though he was not required to do so during Wednesday's proceedings.

The Vatican's chief financial officer since 2014, Cardinal Pell is the most senior official in the Roman Catholic Church to face charges in the decades-long sexual abuse scandal involving clergy.

Pell has long been under fire for his handling of priests accused of sexually abusing children during his years as archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney. He was interviewed twice by a special commission formed to investigate allegations of sexual abuse committed by clergy, many of them dating back decades.

His next court date has been scheduled for October 6.澳大利亞樞機主教喬治·佩爾被控性侵首次出庭。佩爾是梵蒂岡最高級別官員之一，也是教皇方濟各的首席財政顧問。

76歲的佩爾樞機主教星期三在墨爾本一家法院短暫出庭，沒有發言。這次開庭主要是例行法律程序。佩爾被控歷史性性侵，涉及過去若干年中的幾名原告。

雖然星期三庭審沒有要求，但是佩爾的律師告訴法庭說，他的委託人對指控做無罪申辯。

佩爾2014年開始擔任梵蒂岡首席財政顧問。他是羅馬天主教會幾十年性侵醜聞中受到指控的最高級別官員。

長時間以來，佩爾一直因爲他在墨爾本和悉尼擔任主教期間對涉嫌性侵兒童的神父的處理方式而受到批評。他曾先後兩次接受負責調查神職人員性侵指控的特別委員會的面談。很多性侵指控都要追溯到幾十年前。

佩爾樞機主教下次出庭是10月6日。