The High Court ordered Pell’s convictions be quashed and verdicts of acquittal be entered in their place, ending the most high profile case of alleged historical sex abuse to rock the Roman Catholic Church.
Twenty-three journalists and 13 media companies face fines and prison terms for allegedly breaching a gag order not to report on last year's trial of Pell for child sex abuse.
The 77-year-old is facing up to 50 years’ jail after being convicted on five counts of sexual and indecent assault of two choirboys in the sacristy of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in 1996-97.
The 77-year-old is facing up to 50 years' jail after being convicted on five counts of sexual and indecent assault of two choirboys in the sacristy of Saint Patrick's Cathedral in 1996-97.
His conviction is another hammer blow to the Church, which has struggled to convince the world it is serious about tackling widespread child abuse and paedophilia.
The state apology comes after a five-year Royal Commission that detailed more than 15,000 survivors' harrowing child sex abuse claims involving thousands of institutions.
The Vatican currently maintains full diplomatic ties with Taiwan, not China, which views Taiwan as merely a wayward province.
Philip Wilson, the archbishop of Adelaide, is expected to be sentenced by the court in June. He faces a maximum penalty of two years in jail.
At a 20-minute hearing on Friday, a magistrate said the matter should return on 5 March for a committal hearing to determine whether it should proceed to a full trial.
Francis has said that everyone had to realise that sexual abuse is “a sickness” with a high probability of relapse.
While reforms in the Catholic Church in the US have made it mandatory for priests to report instances of sexual abuse, there remains much work to be done in the Catholic Church worldwide.
More than 4,400 alleged paedophilia cases were reported to Australian Catholic authorities between 1950 and 2010, according to the findings of the Royal Commission on child sex abuse in the church.
