Cardinal George Pell, retired archbishop of Sydney and former head of the Vatican’s secretariat for the economy, accused of sexual violence in Australia and then cleared, died in Rome at the age of 81.
According to the official Vatican News website, George Pell “ died of complications following hip surgery in a Rome hospital, just days after attending the pope’s funeral Benedict XVI.
Coming from a modest background in the Australian region, George Pell rose through the ranks and became an important figure in the Vatican. But his meteoric rise was marred by criminal convictions for sexually assaulting altar boys in Melbourne in the 1990s, convictions later overturned.
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His death, received differently, illustrates well the turmoil in which the Catholic Church has found itself for several years in the face of the denunciation of sexual crimes committed within it. His supporters praise this modern-day “saint”, like former Australian Conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott who believes the cardinal’s name has been tainted by a ” monstrous allegation “and that his incarceration” was a modern form of crucifixion “.
But for victims of church sexual abuse, her death brought back painful memories. For Donald McLeish, of the SNAP association for the defense of victims of pedophile religious, the cardinal embodied the negligence of the Church with regard to victims of sexual violence. ” His name is known to all survivors around the world “, he pointed to AFP. ” Not just for his inaction, but for the coldness he showed towards victims and survivors “.
A year in prison
In 2019, when he was then considered the right arm of Pope Francis and the third most powerful personality of the Church, he was sentenced to six years in prison for the sexual assault of two altar boys, in the 1990s, in the sacristy of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne. Confirmed on appeal, his conviction was then quashed by the Australian High Court. The cardinal therefore only spent a year in prison.
Received by Pope Francis in Rome, following this story, he affirms that the judgment makes it possible to repair ” a grave injustice “.
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Although cleared by the courts, a separate investigation points to his disregard for claims of sexual abuse during his rise in the Australian Catholic Church. ” In 1973, Cardinal Pell was not only aware of the sexual abuse of children by clergy, but he also considered measures to avoid situations that could provoke discussions about it. “, had concluded a royal commission in 2020.