Cardinal George Pell, one of the Catholic Church’s most prominent and controversial figures, has passed away at the age of 81 due to complications from hip surgery. Pell served as Archbishop of both Melbourne and Sydney, and later became one of the Pope’s top aides, serving as the Vatican’s treasurer. In 2018, he was convicted of child abuse charges and spent 13 months in prison before his conviction was quashed by the High Court of Australia in 2020.
Pell’s case shocked the Catholic Church, as he was the most senior Church figure to ever be jailed for such offenses. He always maintained his innocence and his legal case captivated not just the Church but also the whole of Australia. Alongside the criminal case, there is still a civil lawsuit under way – launched by the father of a choirboy that prosecutors alleged Cardinal Pell abused.
In addition to his criminal case, a Royal Commission inquiry found that Cardinal Pell knew of child sexual abuse by priests in Australia as early as the 1970s but failed to take action. The findings were released in 2020, and Cardinal Pell denied the allegations, insisting it was “not supported by evidence.”
Pell was a polarizing figure, both in Australia and abroad. He rose to prominence in the Church as a strong supporter of traditional Catholic values, often taking conservative views and advocating for priestly celibacy. He himself admitted that his direct style and traditional approach to issues such as abortion had driven parts of the public against him.
Reactions to his death were mixed. Archbishop of Melbourne Peter Comensoli paid tribute to Cardinal Pell as “a very significant and influential Church leader” while Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his death would be a “shock to many.” Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott – a Catholic – praised the cleric as a “saint for our times” and “an inspiration for the ages”, saying the charges he’d faced were “a modern form of crucifixion” However, Steve Dimopoulos, a government minister in Cardinal Pell’s home state of Victoria, acknowledged the difficulty of the day for survivors and victims of child sexual abuse and their families.
