The Australian Cardinal George Pell, one of the major players in Francis' pontificate, died at the age of 81 in Rome on Tuesday, January 10, of a heart complication after an operation. He embodied both some of the successes and obvious shortcomings of the Argentinean pope's reign. For example, he was behind the introduction of rules of good management practices and transparency in the finances of the Roman Curia. He was also the defendant in a sensational trial in Australia for the sexual assault of two altar boys in the 1990s, which led to him spending 404 days in prison before being acquitted with the benefit of the doubt. On Wednesday, January 11, the Pope paid tribute to "his diligent collaboration with the Holy See in its economic reform, the foundations of which he determinedly laid."
Barely elected pope, in 2013 the reformer Francis chose this conservative cardinal to be part of the college of cardinals in charge of reorganizing the Vatican and preparing the new apostolic constitution. Born on June 8, 1941 in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, bishop of Melbourne (1996-2001), then of Sydney, George Pell was made cardinal in 2003 by John Paul II. In 2014 he was made the inaugural treasurer of the Vatican’s Secretariat of the Economy, making him the second most powerful dignitary in the curia.
Francis thought he could count on the strong character of the prelate, a former top Australian rules football player, to impose new economic practices on the Vatican administration, which was marked by a culture of hidden arrangements. In this position, he set in motion a series of reforms that shook up habits and vested interests and were met with inertia and discontent.
The 'Bulldog'
In his native country, where he was recognized for his qualities as a manager and political leader, it was his conservatism that initially angered his opponents. "Like Pope Benedict XVI, he was conservative on moral issues and doctrine. But unlike the German pope, who was shy and quiet, George Pell was a loud and brash Australian," said Miles Pattenden, a researcher at the Australian Catholic University.
Pell was nicknamed the "Bulldog" for his fierce combativeness and determination. He constantly opposed marriage for all (he described homosexuality as "danger to health"), contraception, abortion and euthanasia. "It will be up to historians to assess his impact on the life of the Church in Australia and beyond, but it was considerable and will last for a long time," said the Archbishop of Sydney shortly after the announcement of his death. Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese merely offered his "condolences to all those who are grieving today."
In Australia, George Pell's name will remain inextricably linked to the child sex abuse cases that have tainted the image of the Catholic Church in recent decades. In December 2018, the prelate was convicted of raping and sexually assaulting two 13-year-old altar boys in the 1990s. He was put behind bars before being acquitted by the Australian High Court in May 2020 due to insufficient evidence. "The real question is not 'do I believe the complainant', but 'having believed the complainant, is there reasonable doubt as to [Pell's] guilt?'" his lawyer argued at the time. In 2021, the cardinal was the target of a new lawsuit, this time civil, brought by the father of a deceased former altar boy who had claimed he had been sexually assaulted. This will continue despite Pell's death.
The prelate, who always maintained his innocence and is considered a modern-day martyr by a minority of the faithful, was also accused of turning a blind eye or even covering up the crimes of abusive priests since the beginning of his career when, as a young curate, he officiated in the town of Ballarat where five priests abused dozens of children. One of abusers, Gerald Ridsdale, was even briefly his roommate.
According to the findings of a commission of inquiry to examine institutional responses to child sex abuse, released in 2017, George Pell, who soon rose through the ranks of the Catholic Church, knew crimes were being committed but failed to take the necessary steps to stop them. The cardinal consistently denied these accusations, pointing out that, as Archbishop of Melbourne, he had been the first to put protocols in place to respond to accusations of child sex abuse. This did not prevent him from being heavily criticized for showing little compassion for the victims. In the last months of his life, however, he finally admitted, half-heartedly, that he had failed.