Cardinal Pell targeted to punish Catholic Church, says defence lawyer

A lawyer for the most senior Vatican official to be charged in the Catholic Church sex abuse crisis told an Australian court today that Cardinal George Pell could have been targeted with false accusations to punish him for the crimes of other clerics.

Defence and prosecution lawyers were making their final submissions at Melbourne Magistrates' Court in a hearing to determine whether the case against Australia's highest-ranking Catholic was strong enough to warrant a trial by jury.