Melbourne (AFP)

The Australian court confirmed on Wednesday that six-year-old Cardinal George Pell, a former Vatican number three, was sentenced to rape and sexual assault on two choirboys in the 1990s and ordered his continued detention.

In a dark suit, the 78-year-old prelate appeared before the Supreme Court of the Australian State of Victoria in Melbourne, steadily lowering his head while Judge Anne Fergusson read the decision dismissing her appeal. The crowd outside greeted the verdict with applause that was heard in the courtroom.

Judge Fergusson stated that Cardinal Pell would be eligible for parole in three years and eight months, although he could still appeal to the High Court of Australia.

The highest-ranking member of the Catholic Church ever convicted of raping minors, the cardinal, who claims his innocence, was convicted in December of five counts, including the imposition of a blowjob in 1996 to a boy of 13 years and masturbating while rubbing against each other.

"For many survivors (of sexual assault), a conviction against an almighty and prominent aggressor increases confidence in the conduct of justice and the possibility of denouncing," responded Pam Stavropoulos of the Australian Blue Foundation. Knot, a group advocating for child victims of sexual abuse.

The cardinal's lawyers had raised 13 objections to challenge the conviction, arguing in particular that it was "physically impossible" that the alleged facts were committed by the prelate while the cathedral was crowded.

They expressed doubts about the whole judgment, whether it was the chronology of the facts or the material possibility for George Pell to have committed the assaults in the cumbersome priestly attire he was wearing while he he had just celebrated the service.

Above all, they consider the verdict "unreasonable" because based exclusively on the testimony of one of the victims. The other died in 2014 from an overdose, without ever claiming to have been the victim of aggression.

- "A weight lifted" -

Lisa Flynn, lawyer of the father of the deceased victim told AFP that "a weight had been lifted".

The three judges also unanimously rejected two arguments by the Cardinal's defense alleging procedural errors during his trial.

In particular, his lawyers argued that they should have been allowed to show an animated recreation of the comings and goings in the cathedral at the time of the assaults.

Following Wednesday's decision, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison expressed his sympathy to the victims. He said the "courts had done their job" and said that Cardinal Pell would be stripped of his Order of Australia medal.

Before his disgrace this year, Mr. Pell had a rapid rise. Appointed Archbishop of Sydney in 2001, he entered the powerful College of Cardinals in 2003 and sat at the conclaves that successively elected popes Benedict XVI and Francis.

Just elected, the Argentine pontiff had chosen in 2013 to be part of the council of nine cardinals (C9) to help reform the Curia, the Vatican government.

In 2014, he later became Secretary of the Economy, number three of the Vatican.

Since his conviction, Cardinal Pell has been relieved of his function as financial officer of the Vatican and lost his place in the C9. The Vatican has opened its own investigation into Archbishop Pell, who could eventually be defrocked.

© 2019 AFP