AUSTRALIA
The Australian
May 20, 2017
REBECCA URBAN
JournalistMelbourne
@RurbsOz
Lawyers acting for George Pell lobbied the Victorian state prosecutor over a new book about the senior Catholic figure in an apparent bid to thwart its planned release in the midst of an active police investigation.
Law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth also wrote repeatedly to publisher Melbourne University Press to warn of potential legal consequences if the book made it to print.
The publisher’s chief executive, Louise Adler, confirmed she had received three letters from lawyers representing Cardinal Pell in the lead-up to the release of journalist Louise Milligan’s book Cardinal: The rise and fall of George Pell on Monday.
By Wednesday, Victoria Police confirmed the Office of Public Prosecutions, which had been considering a brief of evidence relating to historic sex-abuse allegations against Cardinal Pell since February, had provided official advice on whether charges should be laid.
The allegations have been vehemently denied by Cardinal Pell, a senior church official based at the Vatican.
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