Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the death of Cardinal George Pell has come as a shock to many, but a survivor of clergy abuse says the news will cause mixed emotions among other victims.
Key Points:
- The Catholic archbishops of Sydney and Melbourne were quick to mourn the cardinal
- However, not everyone has been complimentary
- A senior researcher at the Australian Catholic University said the cardinal’s legacy would be “mixed”
Cardinal Pell, Australia’s most senior Catholic, died in Rome on Tuesday aged 81, following complications during hip surgery.
Albanese expressed his condolences this morning.
“Well, for many people, especially of the Catholic faith, this will be a difficult day and I will express my condolences to all who are grieving today.”
The Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, said worshipers were shocked.
“Please pray for the repose of Cardinal Pell’s soul, for comfort and solace for his family and for all those who loved him and are grieving at this time.”
Catch up on the news about the death of Cardinal George Pell
Cardinal Pell became Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996 and Archbishop of Sydney in 2001.
He was appointed cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2003.
He was found guilty in 2018 of abusing two choirboys in the 1990s, and spent more than a year behind bars, before his conviction was overturned by the High Court.
Cardinal George Pell was sentenced in 2018 to six years behind bars. (AAP: Erik Anderson) Cardinal George Pell leaves the Melbourne Magistrates Court in 2017. (AAP: Joe Castro)
Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, a staunch supporter of Cardinal Pell, said Australia had lost a great son.
“His imprisonment on charges which the High Court eventually scathingly dismissed was a modern form of crucifixion – at least in terms of reputation, a kind of living death.
“His prison diaries should become a classic: an excellent man struggling with a cruel fate and trying to make sense of the injustice of suffering.”
Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the church had lost a great leader. (AAP: Mick Tsikas)
Miles Pattenden, senior research fellow at the Australian Catholic University, said the cardinal’s legacy would be “mixed”.
“George Pell was one of the most conservative figures of his generation in the global church,” Dr Pattenden said.
“He was a staunch defender of traditional positions on morality and also on matters of liturgy and of course that won him many admirers in the Church and as many opponents.”
He became Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996, then Archbishop of Sydney in 2001. (AAP Image: Jane Dempster)
Dr Pattenden said Pell had “many admirers”, but there were also “many people who hold him, at least indirectly, responsible for many of the problems that have beset the Australian church over the last 20 or 30 years, and who would wish that he has been called to account more fully for some of his decisions as archbishop.”
Former New Englander Tony Windsor said his thoughts were with the survivors of the trauma.
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The Archbishop of Melbourne, Peter Andrew Comensoli, said Cardinal Pell was a significant figure “both in Australia and internationally”.
“At this immediate moment, may our prayers go to the God of Jesus Christ, in whom Cardinal Pell believed with all his heart and followed, that he may be welcomed into eternal life,” he said.
Truth Justice and Healing Council executive director Francis Sullivan said Cardinal Pell became a “lightning rod” of discontent and a “polarizing figure” in the church because of his views, particularly against homosexuality.
“He administered it with a very fundamentalist advocacy approach that increasingly alienated and alienated many Catholics and the broader optics of the church made us seem judgmental and out of touch,” Sullivan said.
The Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which delivered its final report in 2017, found that Cardinal Pell knew of sexual abuse within the clergy but failed to take adequate steps to address it. Cardinal Pell disputed the findings.
Clergy abuse survivors Gordon Hill and Paul Levey embrace after a visit to the Vatican in 2016. (AAP: Lloyd Jones)
A survivor of clergy abuse who started a petition for Cardinal Pell to step down in 2020 said the news would stir mixed emotions among survivors.
Paul Levey was abused by convicted pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale.
“I’ve read messages from a lot of other survivors … there are little celebrations going on in the survivor community,” she said.
He said the Royal Commission did not investigate as much as it needed to.
“I went from the beginning to the end, I went to Rome, I don’t think so [Pell] he was pushed into a corner as much as he should have been,” Levey said.
“And there was no real apology… It all felt like a matter of fact, let’s get it done and out of the way.”
Attorney Vivian Waller has represented survivors of institutional sex abuse for more than 20 years and said many survivors would remember Cardinal Pell as someone who was more interested in protecting the interests of the church.
“There have been many ways in which they have found George Pell’s response inadequate, including saying that the Catholic Church had no more responsibility for child sexual abuse than a trucking company would if a truck driver molested to a woman – that was a statement to the Royal. commission,” Dr Waller said.
He said many survivors’ post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms could worsen today and it was an important time for the church to be compassionate with them.
Vivian Waller said survivors and their families were feeling a “roller coaster” of emotions today. (ABC RN: Jeremy Story Carter)
Former Prime Minister John Howard said Cardinal Pell was a person of enormous influence for the nation.
“In the senior positions he held in the Church, he showed constant courage to express Christian views in the public space,” he said.
“His deep and compassionate faith kept him in prison for over 400 days for alleged crimes that many, including myself, believed should never have been charged.”
Melbourne lawyer Judy Courtin, who represents victims of institutional child sexual abuse, said she had already received several messages from survivors.
“I think it’s very mixed for them. One text sent little icons of party leaders, celebration. Others, I think, reflect a lot of frustration, because there’s never been proper accountability,” Courtin said.
Read more about the death of Cardinal George Pell:
A law firm has confirmed it will continue to press ahead with a civil lawsuit on behalf of the father of a former Monaco man who accused Cardinal Pell of sexual abuse.
Shine Lawyers said there was still evidence for the claim it was based on, despite not being able to cross-examine the cardinal at any trial.
“The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne is also listed as a defendant in this matter,” Shine Lawyers legal director Lisa Flynn said in a statement.