MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian court has upheld convictions against the most senior Catholic to be found guilty of children sex abuse.

The Victoria state Court of Appeal by a 2-1 majority ruling issued Wednesday rejected Cardinal George Pell's appeal of the unanimous verdicts a jury issued in December finding Pope Francis' former finance minister guilty of molesting two 13-year-old choirboys in Melbourne's St. Patrick's Cathedral in 1996 and 1997.

At the time, Pell had just become archbishop of Australia's second largest city and had set up a world-first compensation arrangement for victims of clergy sexual abuse.

His lawyers are expected to appeal the decision in the High Court, Australia's final arbiter.