After all that he has endured – more than 400 days in jail for crimes he did not commit — Cardinal George Pell appeared at peace in his exclusive with Andrew Bolt on Sky News Australia last night.

Pell’s unwavering faith carried him through his ordeal, along with his belief that no earthly trial is ever the final trial.

The wide-ranging interview sit down interview discussed everything from the sins of the Catholic Church and his extensive legal battle, to the blazing culture wars.

Last week, the High Court unanimously quashed Pell’s convictions for abusing two choirboys at Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral in the 1990s.

He talked about his “good God” as he described the grotesque miscarriage of justice.

He said he believed his conservative views had contributed to the witch-hunt. “A lot of people don’t like my views. I’m a social conservative,” he said. “Certainly people don’t like Christians who teach Christianity, especially on life and family and issues like that. They get very, very cross. The culture wars are real. There is a systematic attempt to remove the Judeo-Christian legal foundations, with the examples of marriages, life, gender, sex and [towards] those who oppose that, unfortunately there’s less rational discussion and there’s more playing the man. More abuse and intimidation, and that’s not good for democracy.”

There’s a lot in there that many of us can relate to.

Whatever your views are of Pell, each and every one of us should reflect on the critical importance of the presumption of innocence.

Without that, we are all in danger.

Watching the live-tweets of key left-wing media players during the interview underlined the point that the media must be held to account.

Just hours before the show, the ABC’s Louise Milligan retweeted footage of police visiting the Sydney seminary where Pell is staying.

“I am told there are complaints in more than one jurisdiction,” she wrote. “That is, not just Victoria. And they are more recent.”

The footage was, in fact, of police investigating death threats made against Pell on social media and his security.

When Pell discussed the Royal Commission he said, “I’d be very surprised if there were any bad findings about me at all.”

Amanda Meade from The Guardian picked up swiftly on that comment; placing the next gotcha trap on the record.

The ABC’s Barrie Cassidy took offence to some of the turns of phrase 78-year-old Pell used during the 45-minute interview. “How could any journalist hearing that not say: activities? How could you describe child abuse as an activity? What is happening to our profession? Bold did more than protect Pell here. He allowed Ridsdale’s appalling crimes to be trivialised.”

It was just one of a flurry of hideously left-wing tweets from Cassidy whose blatant, unrepentant and relentless bias serves to bold and underline the twisted skew of our supposedly national broadcaster for all to see.

And on the issue of the(ir) ABC, Pell said, “I acknowledge the right of those who differ from me to state their views. But in a national broadcaster to have an overwhelming presentation of one view, and only one view, I think that’s a betrayal of the national interest.”

One glimpse at the twitter feeds of ABC journalists is enough to confirm he is correct – and his battle in this war is far from won.

Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.