George Pell: Polarising figure remembered as a great churchman, fine priest and good Christian soul

Cardinal George Pell’s legacy in Australia was complicated, but Catholic leaders remember him as ‘one of the great churchmen’.

George Pell prays at the lying in state for Pope Benedict XVI on January 3. Picture: EPA

George Pell stood unique among Australian church figures by virtue of his staunch defence of the Catholic faith, his work to spread the doctrine through the education system, and his role in establishing a redress scheme for victims of clergy abuse, Catholic archbishop of Melbourne Peter Comensoli said.

But others described the senior Catholic as a “polarising” figure and a man who put the interests of the church ahead of victims of abuse perpetrated by clergy.

After taking Mass in St Patrick’s Cathedral on Wednesday to mark the death of Cardinal Pell in Rome, aged 81, Archbishop Comensoli offered his reflections on the complicated legacy of one of the Catholic Church’s most divisive figures.

“There probably has not been a churchman in Australia quite like the cardinal,” Archbishop Comensoli said. “The cardinal has been one of the great churchmen of Australia and internationally. He over many years has been a forthright defender of the faith, a great gospel man.”

Cardinal Pell was remembered as a man loved by conservative ­Catholics for his traditionalist views on church doctrine, including on issues such as abortion and homosexuality, and disliked by progressive elements of the church for the same reason.

His legacy was further clouded by allegations of child sexual abuse, which saw him spend more than a year in jail before being acquitted of the charges by the High Court, and by criticisms that he prioritised the church over holding clergy members guilty of sexual abuse to account.

Despite the controversy over the Melbourne Response, a redress scheme introduced by Cardinal Pell in 1996 for victims of sexual abuse by priests, religious and lay people within the Melbourne Archdiocese, Archbishop ­Comensoli listed it among the cardinal’s achievements, alongside growing Catholic education and ensuring the financial stability of the church.

Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher recalled Cardinal Pell’s role in bringing the 2008 World Youth Day, an international gathering for young Catholics, to Sydney as a highlight of his lifelong service.

Archbishop Fisher said Cardinal Pell was a “fine priest and a good Christian soul” who had not been defined by “his wrongful conviction and imprisonment”.

“He bore this with grace and goodwill and gave us all an example of how to accept suffering with dignity and peace,” he said.

But support group In Good Faith Foundation chief executive Clare Leaney reflected on the impact of Cardinal Pell’s death on survivors of clerical abuse, saying many saw him as “a symbol of a system that repeatedly put the interests of the Catholic Church above the interest and safety of ­individuals”.

“While I acknowledge the passing of Cardinal Pell, my thoughts today are with every survivor of abuse from within the Catholic Church and for all those still seeking justice.”

Truth Justice and Healing Council chief executive Francis Sullivan described Cardinal Pell as a “polarising figure” within the church for his conservative stance on issues such as homosexuality.

“He administered it with a very fundamentalist defence approach that increasingly distanced and alienated a lot of Catholics, and the broader optics of the church made us look like we were judgmental and out of touch,” Mr Sullivan told the ABC.