An Australian appeals court by a 2-1 ruling Wednesday upheld convictions against Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Catholic to be found guilty of sexually abusing children.
The Victoria state Court of Appeal rejected Pell's appeal of a unanimous jury verdict in December that Pope Francis' former finance minister was guilty of molesting two 13-year-old choirboys in Melbourne's St. Patrick's Cathedral more than two decades ago.
His lawyers are expected to appeal to the High Court, Australia's final arbiter.
He was sentenced to six years in prison in March and is no longer a member of Pope Francis' council of cardinals or a Vatican official. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said soon after the appeal was rejected that Pell would be stripped of his Order of Australia honor.
Pell, 78, showed no emotion when Chief Justice Anne Ferguson read the verdict to a packed courtroom but bowed his head moments later. He wore a cleric's collar but not his cardinal's ring. Pell had arrived at the court in a prison van and was handcuffed as he was led away by a guard.
The Vatican is conducting its own investigation into sex abuse allegations against Pell and is expected to comment on the ruling later Wednesday.
Clerical sexual abuse and the Catholic church's handling of such cases worldwide have thrown Francis' papacy into turmoil.
In a little more than a year, the pope has acknowledged he made "grave errors" in Chile's worst cover-up, Pell was convicted of abuse, a French cardinal was convicted of failing to report a pedophile, and a third cardinal, former U.S. church leader