George Pell was the third most important person in the Roman Catholic church at the Vatican and was very close to the pope himself.

His conviction brings the global sexual abuse scandal to the very heart off the Vatican.

Pel and his defense team have maintained his innocence, saying the trial was only a means to destroy his reputation.

Ah, unanimous jury handed down the guilty verdict just before Christmas last year, but a court order has until now prevented the reporting of his conviction to protect the integrity of his second trial.

And that trial has now been called off so CNN can now report his conviction.

Anna Coren has been following the case joins us from outside the court in Melbourne.

Now that second trial isn't happening.

The gag order to so called protect the jury in that second trial is no longer necessary philistine on this extraordinary case and the importance of it.

Michael, this is absolutely explosive and it will send shock waves not just here in Australia, but certainly around the world, right to the top.

Off the Vatican.

As you say, he is number three in the Vatican treasurer off the Vatican.

He is now the most senior member of the Catholic Church to be charged to be convicted of child sexual assault.

We have been sitting on this story for the last two months.

As you say, There has been a suppression order in place due to that second trial.

With that second trial a short time ago, it collapsed.

It wasn't enough evidence to proceed.

There has been debate going on in the courtroom behind me at here at Milburn County Court and the judge just a short time ago decided to lift that suppression order.

No longer will the media seat on this story it is now official George Pill is a convicted pedophile.

Now, what are these allegations of these conviction?

What is it all about?

It relates to two choirboys.

Back in the late nineties, when George Hill was archbishop of Melvin, he was archbishop from 1996 to 2000 and one.

Now the allegations by the crown is that George Pell.

He forced one of these choirboys to perform oral sex on him and perform indecent acts with the other two.

There was a charge of a month later that he gropes one of the choirboys in the hole way now in relation to the second choir boy.

He died several years ago from a drug overdose, which, as we know, is often the case with the survivors off sexual abuse.

We've spoken to many, many survivors of a clerical sexual abuse over the last week, and I may talk of having problems with alcohol and with drugs in their life going completely off the rails.

So there was only one choirboy who gave testimony before a jury of 12 Australians, and they deliberated for two and 1/2 days, and they found him guilty unanimously on all five charges, one of sexual penetration, the others of indecent assault.

But as we say, this is extraordinary.

We are waiting for George Hill to leave the courthouse.

Hey is still out on bail.

He will return here to this court to a plea hearing tomorrow.

That is where his sentencing will be discussed, but that sentencing won't be handed down until next week.

But as we say, Michael and Maria, this is absolutely explosives.

It is explosive.

It is extremely extraordinary.

Just when you consider his position, Cardinal Pell.

I mean, he was the highest ranking Catholic official in Australia, the third highest in the Catholic Church.

He was also one of the pope.

Pope Francis is most trusted advisors.

And now you're talking about sentencing on Wednesday.

So this is a man.

Ah, hire a former high ranking Catholic official who will likely face jail time.

Is that correct, Anna?

Yeah, absolutely Aymara.

He will definitely do jail time.

That is what we are hearing and perhaps a jail term from 5 to 10 years.

It just depends.

There was sentencing reform here in the state of Victoria in 2012.

These crimes took place in the in the late 19.

So it will be up to the judges how he hands down the sentence and and how severe it will be.

But these are extremely serious charges.

And obviously George police is going to have to dio gentle time speaking Thio other survivors of clerical abuse here in Victoria, they definitely want to see him due time and may feel that if George Pills can be brought down for child sexual abuse, then no one in the church is untouchable way.

What happens that just describe the impact of this in Australia?

It was a major story.

He was in Rome when he was advised of the charges.

They were there was talk about his health at the time and whether he could return or not.

He eventually did.

This is a case that has consumed certainly the Australian media, but is now gonna have a much broader audience given his position.

Oh, absolutely, I we will wait for word from from the Vatican, but you would have to assume in the current climate, Michael, that the pope is going to comment on this.

Now we know that when the conviction was handed down back in December, obviously way couldn't report it that shortly after that, hey was taken off the counsel adviser's the unofficial council of advisers to the pipe he was very close to.

To Pope Francis.

He waas the Vatican off the treasure.

This is a man who who was instrumental at the Holy See very highly regarded, and we also have to remember that when those charges were laid by police.

Back in 2017 the Vatican vehemently defended George Pills.

So weii know that there's Bean.

This summit that's taken place in in Rome just concluded on the weekend where Pope Francis called from all out assault on child sexual abuse within the church.

Hey described those who abuse Children as the tools of Satan.

Well, I wonder what message he will be handing down six George kill someone who was so close to him.

Someone who was so high up in the Vatican himself is now a convicted pedophile.

I want to focus a little bit on the abuse and what happened back in 1960 1996 and 97 again.

Cardinal Pell.

George Pal.

Being found guilty of sexually abusing these two choirboys.

You mentioned one of them passed away from an overdose.

Sadly, do we hear during this four and 1/2 week trial, did we actually hear from one of the choir boys?

Yes, we did, Amara.

The media didn't.

It was in a restricted course closed circuit.

He gave evidence by video link.

This is Ah, young man now in his thirties, who does not want to be identified, and we should probably backtrack as to why he went to the police.

There was a royal permission here in Australia into the institution responses of of child sexual abuse and that that started in in 2012 in 2014.

He's one of the choir boys.

He was the one who took his own life way.

Know then that that prompted wth the other choirboy surviving choirboy to come forward to go to police Thio, the Asano task force that's been set up investigating a child sexual abuse on He said that he wanted to to tell the truth, that this was a secret that he was harboring for so long.

Hey talked during his testimony about never telling anybody, never wanting to tell anybody that he was at school on a scholarship.

His parents were going through a divorce.

He didn't want to jeopardize anything.

As far as he was concerned, he was never, ever going to tell anybody.

But it was his friend's death that prompted him to take action.

But he is a little bit more for background, just so important to hear just awful, just awful situation.

Andi Yeah, not wanting to talk about it because of the scholarship on Do stay with us when we come back and ask you some more questions but to give more background.

Cardinal Pell's conviction brings the global sexual abuse scandal to the very heart of the Vatican.

Sure does.

And Pel and his defense team had been maintaining his innocence, saying the trial was just a means to destroy his reputation.

Here's unicorn with more on the story.

It's news that will send shock waves throughout the Roman Catholic Church.

Cardinal George Pell, Vatican treasurer Found guilty of child sex abuse The most senior Vatican official ever convicted of child sex offenses.

The verdict came down in December, but legal restrictions meant it couldn't be reported in Australia until now.

Pill, the country's most powerful Catholic, was on trial for assaulting two choirboys in the late nineties when he was archbishop of Melbourne.

The prosecution's case hinged on the testimony of one of those boys.

He told the court Pel assaulted them after Mass forced him to perform oral sex on him and committed an indecent act with his friend.

He also testified that a month later Pel pushed him against a wall and groped him, he said, quote, I didn't tell anyone at the time.

I had no intention back then of telling anyone ever the other victim died of a drug overdose.

Is an adult having never told his family off the abuse?

The cardinal called the allegations outrageous.

I'm innocent of these charges.

They are false.

The whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me.

He didn't take the stand during the trial.

Instead, a video of his interview with Australian detectives was played to the court.

He pleaded not guilty, and his defense lawyer said the accusations were a fantasy.

But a jury convicted pill on all five charges, one of the sexual penetration of a child and four of an indecent act with or in the presence of a child.

It's a shocking fall from grace for one of the Vatican's top officials, who has long been an influential if divisive, figure in Australia.

He rose through the ranks of the church to become archbishop of Milburn, then Sydney, then a cardinal before being appointed Vatican treasurer and a member of the pope's informal council of advisers.

But while he star rose in the Vatican, pill came in for mounting criticism at home as the Australian church became the center of a global child abuse scandal.

A national inquiry into institutional responses to child sexual abuse found 7% of the country's Catholic priests were accused of abusing Children between 1950 2010.

It identified nearly 2000 alleged perpetrators, including priests, brothers, lay people and religious sisters.

That's Cardinal when he appeared in front of the royal commission in 2016 Pillow face questions about whether he had done enough to weed out abuse and get justice for the victims.

Now the cardinal himself has been convicted, and other survivors of clerical sexual abuse unrelated to the pill case are elated.

Justice is what I thought.

Justice for the victims.

I think that should give everyone that's thinking about Yeah, well, you'll be believed, or whether you will or won't win the fight.

That should give you the courage to come forward and at least be heard pills.

Conviction will hurt an organization already battling decades of revelations about pedophile priests, the pope removed pill from his advisory council in December, But the damage to the church may be difficult to repair.

Now this global crisis has reached the top of the Vatican.