Cardinal Pell

Pope Francis sends a telegram of condolences upon the death of Cardinal George Pell who, he says “unwaveringly followed his Lord with perseverance ...

ROME — Pope Francis on Wednesday paid tribute to Cardinal George Pell, who spent 404 days in solitary confinement in his native Australia before his child ...

While in Melbourne, he set up the Melbourne Response which was a world-first protocol to investigate complaints of clergy sexual abuse and to compensate victims. The father claims he suffered psychological effects from the abuse of his son, who died in 2014 from an accidental drug overdose. “There is still a great deal of evidence for this claim to rely on.” Pell and his supporters believed he was scapegoated for all the crimes of the Australian Catholic Church’s botched response to clergy sexual abuse. He was offered a professional football contract to play for Richmond but opted for a seminary instead. Australian inquiries concluded that Pell created a victims’ compensation program mainly to limit the church’s liability, and that he aggressively tried to discourage victims from pursuing lawsuits. Pell’s biggest battle had been to wrest control of the office’s asset portfolio, which remained off the Holy See’s balance sheets and was managed by a few inexperienced monsignors and laymen who lost the Vatican tens of millions in euros. 2 in the secretariat of state, mostly concerns the office’s 350 million euro investment in a London real estate deal. After his testimony, Pell met with Australian survivors who had traveled to Rome to hear him in person. The journal turned into a triptych, “Prison Journal,” the proceeds of which went to pay his substantial legal bills. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican in the next few days, and in time his body would be brought back to Australia for a funeral Mass and buried in the crypt at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in the latest 1990s shortly after he had become archbishop of Melbourne.

Cardinal Pell, a former head of Vatican finances, does not criticise Pope Francis directly in the piece he's written for The Spectator.

This is the last public statement by a hugely influential cardinal who was once part of the Pope’s inner circle. That phrase goes to the heart of the matter. Pell states quite plainly that the whole process – which began with a ‘consultation’ of the laity in which only a minuscule proportion of the world’s Catholics took part – is in the process of being rigged.

Pontiff praises 'determination and wisdom' of Pell, who was convicted but then acquitted of child sexual abuse.

He became a bishop in 1987 and was made a cardinal in 2003, serving as archbishop of Melbourne and then Sydney in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Pell was such a high-profile person, the fact that he has died will be another trigger for the survivors of abuse … He made use of his time on Earth – whether in church or prison – to glorify God.” Pat Brown, a spokesperson for the Catholic Women’s Ordination, which released a strong statement on behalf of survivors of clerical abuse after Benedict’s death, said: “Here we have a double whammy. He always maintained his innocence and his Days earlier, he attended the [funeral of Pope Benedict XVI](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/05/pope-benedict-xvi-funeral-expected-to-draw-big-crowds-to-st-peters-square-vatican) at the Vatican. He was a great man and we owe him many things.” This will come as a shock to many. “I only gave the instructions,” the pontiff said. Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said: “For many people, particularly of the Catholic faith, this will be a difficult day and I express my condolences to all those who are mourning today. He is the one who started this. Then he had to stay for almost two years in Australia because of this slander they made against him – he was innocent, but they made him an ugly, poor fellow – and he walked away from this administration, but it was Pell who provided the blueprint for how things could go forward.

Australian Cardinal George Pell died Tuesday in Rome at age 81 after suffering a cardiac arrest.

“I offer sentiments of heartfelt condolence,” the pope said in a Jan. “May eternal light now be his, who so steadfastly believed in the God of Jesus Christ,” Comensoli wrote on Twitter. [reacted with sadness and shock](https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253316/church-in-australia-reacts-with-shock-sadness-at-news-of-cardinal-pell-s-death) at the news of Pell’s death.

Un-redacted report released in 2020 revealed how archbishop failed to take proper steps to act on complaints about dangerous priests.

We found that he should have advised the archbishop to remove Father Searson and he did not do so.” The complaints were not acted upon by senior parish staff, so he took his complaints higher, to figures within the archdiocese of Melbourne and the Catholic Education Office, asking for meetings and outlining his concerns. It found that Pell should have advised senior Catholic authorities to remove Searson, who was described as “unstable and disturbed”, in 1989. “We are not satisfied that Bishop Pell said the words attributed to him or otherwise sought to obtain Mr Ridsdale’s silence. Brother Edward “Ted” Dowlan was a notorious Christian Brother paedophile who worked at Ballarat’s St Patrick’s college. He did nothing to report it. Father Pell said, ‘Don’t be ridiculous’ and walked out,” Green said. He said Pell called him. We do not accept that Bishop Pell was deceived, intentionally or otherwise.” “By this time, child sexual abuse was on his radar, in relation to not only Monsignor Day but also Ridsdale.” [report](https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/file-list/un-redacted_report_of_case_study_28_-_catholic_church_authorities_in_ballarat.pdf) found he both knew about child abuse, particularly within the Victorian diocese of Ballarat, and failed to take proper steps to act on complaints about dangerous priests. On the basis of what was known to Bishop Pell in 1989, we found that it ought to have been obvious to him at the time.

Pope Francis praised the late Australian Cardinal George Pell as a faithful servant of God and of the Catholic Church, who steadfastly followed the Lord ...

“Through his legal troubles,” the archbishop said, “he was identified wholly with the Catholic Church and vice versa. Cardinal Pell “became the victim of an outrageous injustice as he was convicted and jailed for 13 months before a final vindication,” Archbishop Coleridge said, referring to the cardinal’s conviction in late 2018 on five counts of sexual abuse. It was a pity that more of this didn’t show in his media appearances.” Australian Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, former president of the conference, said, Cardinal Pell “didn’t claim to be a saint; he knew he was flawed. Australian Archbishop Timothy Costelloe of Perth, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, said, “Cardinal Pell’s impact on the life of the church in Australia and around the world will continue to be felt for many years. The cardinal’s funeral was expected to be celebrated in St.