Cardinal George Pell Dies Aged 81 In Vatican City
Image: Cardinal George Pell. Image: Facebook
Cardinal George Pell, Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic cleric convicted on child abuse charges before being acquitted, died at the age of 81 in Vatican City on Tuesday.
Trigger Warning: This story discusses child abuse and anti-LGBTQI comments, which might be distressing to some readers. For 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.
The former Catholic archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney reportedly died after complications from hip surgery.
In 2018, Pell, then the Vatican’s top finance minister, was convicted of molesting two teenage choirboys at St Patrick’s Cathedral in 1996, when he was archbishop of Melbourne. Pell, who spent 13 months in prison and maintained his innocence, was acquitted by the high court in 2020. The high court ruled that the jury that convicted Pell, had not entertained a doubt as to his guilt.
A royal commission found in 2017 that Pell knew of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Australia as early as the 1970s but had failed to take any action against them.
‘Thoughts With Survivors And Victims’
ABC investigative journalist Louise Milligan who reported the allegations against Pell and wrote the book Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of George Pell, tweeted: “George Pell is dead. This will be a very triggering day for a lot of people. Thinking of them.”
Out gay Victorian Minister Steve Dimopoulos acknowledged child abuse victims in his comments to the media. “Today would be a very difficult day for the cardinal’s family and loved ones, but also very difficult for survivors and victims of child sexual abuse and their families and my thoughts are with them,” said Dimopoulos.
George Pell is dead. This will be a very triggering day for a lot of people. Thinking of them.
— Louise Milligan (@Milliganreports) January 10, 2023
Pell also had a history of homophobic statements against the LGBTQI community. He had refused communion to gay and lesbian Catholics in Sydney and Melbourne.
“God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve and important consequences follow from this. Our Judeo-Christian religious tradition allows men and women sexual expression within the bounds of family life, a sexuality which is life-giving. Homosexual acts are contrary to the natural law, they close the sexual act to the gift of life,” Pell told the congregation at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney in May 2022.
Cardinal Continued To Hold Views Against LGBTQI Community
Pell, in 1990, acknowledged homosexuality existed but said “for the good of society it should not be encouraged.” In 2006, he opposed the legislation that gave same-sex couples the right to adopt children. In 2009, Pell bemoaned anti-discrimination laws in Australia.
“[Religious] exemptions are now being refused or defined in the narrowest possible terms in new anti-discrimination measures, and existing exemptions are being eroded or ‘strictly construed’ by the courts,” Pell had said.
He continued to hold such views against the LGBTQI community. In March 2022, Pell had called on the Vatican to reprimand two German Catholic senior clergy members – Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich and Bishop Georg Baetzing – who had called on the church to change its teachings on sexuality and homosexuality.
Pell is likely to be buried in Sydney.
If you feel distressed reading the story, you can reach out to support services.
For 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14
For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.
