Melbourne boys school St Bede’s College’s tribute to George Pell

A newsletter distributed at a private school has praised the late Cardinal George Pell for his “strengths in administration”.

A private all-boys school in Melbourne’s bayside suburbs has paid tribute to George Pell in a school newsletter that praised his “strengths in administration”.

As Australia and the rest of the world continues to grapple with the Cardinal’s chequered legacy following his death on January 10, St Bede’s College in Mentone addressed his death in a letter that was distributed to the school community on Friday.

In the letter, which also feted hard line conservative, retired Pope Benedict XVI who died in December, principal Deb Frizza commended Pell’s time as the most senior Australian to have ever served the Vatican.

“We have recently learned of the passing of two very significant individuals in the Catholic Church of recent years – retired Pope Benedict XVI and Australian Cardinal, George Pell,” Ms Frizza said.

“George Pell’s strengths in administration were widely recognised, both in Australia and around the world.

The letter described Pope Benedict XVI and George Pell as ‘two very significant individuals in the Catholic Church of recent years’. Picture: Paul Haring

“This priest from Ballarat led the local Church in Melbourne from 1996 to 2001, before being transferred to Sydney, and then to Rome as a member of an advisory group to Pope Francis and Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy.

“We pray for the repose of both of their souls.”

Despite making reference to the divisive Cardinal’s time in Ballarat during the 1970s and early 80s, it did not acknowledge Pell’s jail time served between 2019 and 2020 for historic sex offences against two underage boys, about which he always maintained his innocence.

Pell was freed in April 2020 after successfully appealing his conviction in the High Court.

Some of Pell’s most scathing critics accused him of shielding paedophile priests, including the notorious sex abuser Gerald Ridsdale, and his perceived insensitivity to the needs of sexual abuse survivors.

Pell always denied those claims.

Pell was praised in the letter for his ‘strengths in administration’. Picture: Getty

He was appointed Archbishop of Melbourne by Pope John Paul II in 1996 and he founded the Melbourne Response to respond to victims of sexual abuse within the Church.

During his time at the Vatican, one of his key missions was to overhaul its finances as the Church wrestled with a decline in faithful believers.

St Bede’s tribute to Pell comes after Pope Francis praised his “determination and wisdom” in a statement that was released soon after his death.

Pell died aged 81 in Rome following complications from hip surgery after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest.

In October, St Bede’s College backflipped on its move to scrap gendered language such as ‘young man’ and ‘boy’ after parents and teachers branded the move “confusing”.

St Bede’s College was contacted for comment.