Those old enough to remember the gross miscarriage of justice concerning the tragic death of baby Azaria Chamberlain, taken by a dingo – whose death was wrongly imputed to her poor mother, Lindy, who was vilified by all Australia, convicted on flimsy and ultimately erroneous evidence, and imprisoned for years, ere she was released and finally proven innocent – will recognise that another kangaroo court verdict has been delivered.
I predict that Cardinal Pell will be exonerated eventually, but, as in the case of the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain, many will continue to be duped by cruel myths – her name was said to mean, quite wrongly, "sacrifice in the wilderness", and ignorance meant that Seventh Day Adventists, such as her parents, were imagined to be addicted to evil rites; his name has been blackened for years in the press, and one suspects that the jurors imagined all Catholic priests to be perverts, so despite the evidence before them, they decided to convict.
I suppose we must now await sick Pell jokes, just as during my younger years dingo jokes did the rounds.