MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Latest on an appeals court upholding the sex abuse convictions of Cardinal George Pell (all times local):

10:50 a.m.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Cardinal George Pell will be stripped of his Order of Australia honor after he lost his court appeal.

Morrison made the announcement at a news conference Wednesday after a Victoria state appeals court ruled 2-1 to uphold Pell's convictions for molesting two choirboys more than two decades ago.

Pell was sentenced to six years in prison in March and was ordered to serve a minimum of 3 years and 8 months before he will be eligible for parole.

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

9:40 a.m.

An Australian court has upheld convictions against the most senior Catholic to be found guilty of sexually abusing children.

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.