Top Ranked Catholic Leader George Pell Dies 81

Cardinal George Pell leaves at Melbourne Magistrates' Court on in Melbourne, Australia, on May 1, 2018. Michael Dodge/Getty Images

Cardinal George Pell and formerly the Vatican’s top finance minister, has died aged 81.

Pell was the former Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney before becoming the head of the Secretariat of the Economy for the Vatican in 2014, regarded as the third highest position in the hierarchy. It was the highest position ever held by an Australian.

Pell is reported to have died due to complications from hip replacement surgery, according to Catholic news outlet EWTN.

The current Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, said the news was a “great shock to all of us.”

“Please pray for the repose of the soul of Cardinal Pell, for comfort and consolation for his family, and for all of those who loved him and are grieving him at this time,” he wrote on Facebook.

A ‘Saint for Our Times,’ Says Former Australian PM

Former Liberal Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the Catholic Church lost a great leader and a “saint for our times.”

“The Cardinal was a committed defender of Catholic orthodoxy and a staunch advocate for the virtues of Western Civilisation,” he wrote on Twitter.

“In fact, he was a very pastoral priest who well understood the human stain and was more than capable of empathising with sinners while still counselling against sin.

“His incarceration on charges that the High Court ultimately scathingly dismissed was a modern form of crucifixion; reputationally at least a kind of living death.”

While Abbott’s predecessor, Prime Minister John Howard, said Pell displayed “consistent courage” in expressing Christian views in the public space.

“Believers and non-believers alike were left in no doubt where George Pell stood on issues,” he said in a statement.

“His deep and compassionate faith sustained him during more than 400 days in prison for alleged crimes which many, me included, believed should never have been the subject of charges.

“I liked and respected the late Cardinal a lot. His passing is a great loss to the intellectual and spiritual life of our country.”

Cardinal Pell made headlines in 2017-18 when he was accused and convicted of molesting two teenage choirboys at St. Patrick’s Cathedral during his time as Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996.

The conviction was later overturned and quashed by all seven justices of the High Court of Australia, who found the Victorian Supreme Court and Court of Appeal did not entertain enough “doubt” on the veracity of 23 witness testimonies.

Pell spent 13 months behind bars and returned to Rome. He maintained his innocence throughout the ordeal.

Pell Case Highlighted Problems with Media

Australian media outlets were later charged and pleaded guilty to breaching a suppression order on reporting on the trial—a normal practice to maintain the integrity and fairness of the trial.

Originally a plea deal was offered in which the prosecutor would drop a total of 58 charges against the journalists, including the charge of sub judice contempt, which carries a potential jail sentence. This resulted in the media companies themselves pleading guilty to 21 charges and can expect fines of up to $500,000 apiece.

Over a million dollars in fines were handed out against several publications, including the Herald Sun, The Australian Financial Review, Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph, The Advertiser in Adelaide, the Geelong Advertiser, and The Courier Mail in Brisbane.

Other media companies include Sydney radio station 2GB, Channel Nine (which featured coverage in its Today show), Mamamia, and Business Insider.

At the time, Nine Entertainment spokesperson said the decision to enter a guilty plea was “important to protect our individual people who were simply going about their jobs.”

“It is a regrettable but necessary decision that media companies enter guilty pleas to avoid the threat of criminal convictions and jail sentences that the Victorian Department of Public Prosecutions pursued …,” the spokesperson said.

Experts Argue Presumption of Innocence Undermined

Augusto Zimmermann, head of law at Sheridan College in Perth, said the media had “no choice” but to plead guilty.

“This admission was a wise legal manoeuvre because, in exchange, prosecutors have dropped all other charges, including against individual journalists,” the former member of the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia told The Epoch Times.

However, Zimmermann was critical of Pell’s media coverage, saying before his first trial in 2018, Pell had become the “most loathed person in the nation.”

“There is a growing rise in Australia of anti-religious, especially anti-Catholic sentiment … Catholic priests are becoming the targets of a vilification campaign that may sometimes involve unsubstantiated accusations and expensive court proceedings,” he said.

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• Australian Media Plead Guilty in George Pell Contempt Trial

Commentator Rocco Loiacano said Pell’s case was an example of ongoing problems with media outlets undermining the presumption of innocence for high-profile individuals, particularly if it helps propagate ongoing social trends.

“Unfortunately, in recent times, the media has, by and large, ignored the idea of the presumption of innocence—the Christian Porter saga last year being one recent and troubling example,” he wrote in The Epoch Times.

“However, perhaps the most egregious was that in relation to Cardinal George Pell, who was vilified by sections of the media, some politicians, and the wider community, not only during his trial for alleged sexual abuse and subsequent appeals but even before.”