It’s been a damning week for the Catholic Church after the jailing of the former Archbishop of Melbourne, Cardinal George Pell, on molestation charges.

The charges relate to an historical attack on two 13-year-old choristers.

The decision has shaken not only the church in Australia, but worldwide, with Pell the highest ranking member of the church to be convicted of such offences.

It has not been an open and shut case, with many high profile backers remaining on his side, including former Prime Ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott.

Australian journalist Lucie Morris-Marr told Tim Beveridge says that people right from the beginning refused to condemn Pell.

"They don't want him to be guilty. Even now there's a guilty conviction, they are still saying he's innocent. I find it ridiculous, I find it quite offensive."

She says they were not at court every day, unlike she was for News Daily.

Morris-Marr was the first to break the story that Pell was the subject of a secret police probe. 

When the guilty verdict came through, she says she felt quite tearful after having covered the story for so long. 

"I knew how important it was for the families, and on the wider scale as well about how everyone is accountable."

She says that the verdict "sent a shock wave" through the court. 

"[Pell's] lawyers put their heads in their hands. Cardinal Pell sunk low in his chair and looked down and put his hands on his thighs. Some advocates started crying."

Morris-Marr says that they did not hear the testimony from the one surviving choirboy. She says he does not want to named as he does not desire to garner any attention from the case.

"At the end of the day, I think humans have an instinct for the truth. Was it Pell, was it the surviving choirboy? And in the end, they decided it was Pell."