George Pell was by far the best known and most polarising churchman in Australia in the past century, perhaps ever.
, who rose further on the world stage than any other Australian cleric, was loved and admired by most conservative Catholics and resented and disliked by the church’s progressive wing.Just McManus.
He served the Catholic Church in many arenas, as a priest in rural Victoria and Melbourne; as rector of Melbourne’s Corpus Christi seminary; as bishop, then Archbishop, of Melbourne; as Archbishop of Sydney, where he was elevated to Cardinal in 2003; as chair of aid organisation Caritas Australia; and other roles too numerous to mention.
One of his achievements was bringing Pope Benedict to Australia for World Youth Day in 2008, featuring one of the biggest masses in Australia’s history, when more than 400,000 pilgrims joined the Pope, Pell, 25 other cardinals, 420 bishops and a 300-strong choir at Randwick racecourse. Then Archbishop George Pell addresses a eucharistic mass at Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral for mourners grieving the loss of family and friends in a car bomb in Bali, 2002.The first blip came in 2002 when he stood down as Archbishop of Sydney while former Supreme Court judge Alec Southwell undertook an independent investigation into allegations that Pell molested a 12-year-old boy on a church camp at Port Phillip in 1961.
Cardinal George Pell arrives at Melbourne Magistrates Court in 2017 to face historic sexual assault charges. After a first jury could not reach a verdict, a second convicted him. He was acquitted on appeal in 2020.Worse was to follow. In 2017, the Victorian police charged Pell with sexually molesting two 13-year-old choir boys in the sacristy of the St Patrick’s Cathedral in 1996. Charges of molesting boys in a pool in Ballarat were withdrawn before trial.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Cardinal George Pell, Australia’s most powerful Catholic, who was dogged by scandal – obituaryPell was acquitted on appeal of child sexual abuse charges, but remained tarnished by his response to paedophile priests over decades
Read more »
Cardinal George Pell dies at the age of 81: reportsAustralian Cardinal George Pell has reportedly died at the age of 81.
Read more »
Vatican confirms George Pell dead after complications from surgeryBREAKING: The Vatican media has confirmed Australian Cardinal George Pell has died aged 81.
Read more »
Cardinal George Pell dies at the age of 81Australian Cardinal George Pell has reportedly died at the age of 81.
Read more »