This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The Catholic church’s already shaky credibility on sexual abuse was dealt another hammer blow on Tuesday, with its third most powerful figure and a close associate of Pope Francis facing a jail sentence for crimes committed against two choirboys in the 1990s.

The news that Cardinal George Pell – who until the weekend was in charge of the Holy See’s finances and of rooting out corruption at the heart of the church – had been found guilty on five charges of sexual abuse was painful and shocking, said the Vatican.

But survivors and activists were enraged at the church’s decision not to strip Pell of his position as a cardinal, at least until the judicial process was exhausted.

Pell, 77, has said he will appeal against the conviction, for which he will be sentenced on Wednesday. He is expected to face a prison term.

The Vatican said the disgraced prelate had “reiterated his innocence and has the right to defend himself to the last degree”. In the meantime, a ban on Pell exercising ministry or having contact with minors would remain in place.

The cardinal’s five-year term as Vatican treasurer expired on Sunday, and Pope Francis – who previously praised Pell for his honesty and response to child sexual abuse – removed him from his inner council of advisers in December.

Play Video 1:02 Cardinal George Pell found guilty of child sexual assault – video

The outcome of the trial, which was subject to a gagging order until this week, was “painful news that, we are well aware, has shocked many people, not only in Australia,” said Alessandro Gisotti, the Vatican press spokesman.

He added: “While waiting for the final judgment, we join the Australian bishops in praying for all the victims of abuse, reaffirming our commitment to do everything possible so that the church is a safe house for everyone, especially for children and the most vulnerable.”

The father of one of the boys assaulted by Pell said the cardinal had “blood on his hands”. The man’s son died of a heroin overdose 17 years after being molested by Pell as a 13-year-old chorister at Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral. The man said he planned to sue Pell or the church.

A mother of another clerical abuse victim, who died of an overdose at the age of 26, said: “The priesthood must stand condemned for what they have done to children.”

Chrissie Foster’s daughter Emma disclosed her abuse to Pell when he was archbishop of Melbourne. Pell “had absolutely no sympathy or understanding or anything. He just was angry and jumping down our throats, telling us to prove it in court,” Foster told ABC. “Now I look at it under this verdict that he’s received, and I think, ‘Oh my goodness, he had a vested interest in shutting us up because he himself was a paedophile as well.’”

Campaigners furious after pope's 'defensive' speech on child abuse Read more

Francesco Zanardi, who set up Rete l’Abuso, an Italian network of clerical abuse survivors, said: “A strong signal would have been completely removing Pell two years ago [when he first faced charges].”

Juan Carlos Cruz, a Chilean survivor of clerical sexual abuse, said the outcome of the trial ought to “put bishops and cardinals around the world on notice”.

The news of the guilty verdict, which was reached unanimously by a jury in December, came less than 48 hours after an unprecedented summit at the Vatican on clerical sexual abuse that was intended to signal a turning point on an issue that has gravely damaged the church and imperilled Pope Francis’s papacy.

Although the outcome of the trial was already known by senior figures at the Vatican, the verdict is likely to reverberate across the 1.2 billion-strong global church.

Pell’s disgrace had caused a “deep, deep wound to the entire Catholic church”, said Robert Mickens, the Rome-based editor of the English-language edition of the Catholic daily newspaper La Croix.

Play Video 3:33 George Pell: David Marr on the cardinal's rise and fall – video explainer

“It has to be stated that the hierarchy has never done anything on its own,” he added. “People are still wondering – is [the church] being totally honest about what has happened and the culpability, especially of bishops?”

Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, said: “Like most Australians, I am deeply shocked at the crimes of which George Pell has been convicted. I respect the fact that this case is under appeal, but it is the victims and their families I am thinking of today, and all who have suffered from sexual abuse by those they should have been able to trust, but couldn’t.”

Prof Des Cahill, a former Catholic priest who has become an advocate for survivors of child abuse, said: “This is is a momentous event, as part of the continuing drama of the Catholic catastrophe.”

If his conviction is upheld, Pell will face a canonical trial, at the end of which he could be removed from the priesthood. Less than two weeks ago, another prominent figure in the church, the former cardinal and archbishop Theodore McCarrick, was defrocked after the Vatican found him guilty of sexual abuse.