Pope hails faith of late Australian Cardinal Pell

Pope Francis said George Pell followed the Lord without wavering ‘even in a time of trial’ in a telegram to the dean of the college of cardinals.

Pope Francis has remembered Cardinal George Pell in a telegram sent to the college of cardinals.

Pope Francis offered his prayers Wednesday for late Australian Cardinal George Pell, saying he kept his faith even while being tested.

Pell, who died Tuesday in Rome aged 81, was a prominent figure in the Catholic Church who was convicted and later cleared of sexual abuse in Australia.

In a telegram to the dean of the college of cardinals, Francis paid tribute to Pell’s “committed witness, his dedication to the gospel and to the Church”.

He noted particularly his work with the Holy See in the context of its recent economic reform, for which “he laid the foundations with determination and wisdom”.

He prayed that Pell, “this faithful servant, who without wavering followed his Lord with determination even in a time of trial, be welcomed in the joy of heaven and receive the award of eternal peace”.

Pope Francis and George Pell speak in the Vatican in 2010. The Pope remembered the Australian as a ‘faithful servant’ to God.

From humble beginnings in regional Australia, Pell climbed the ranks to become one of Francis’ most trusted advisers inside the Vatican.

He was also the highest-ranking Catholic to be imprisoned for child sexual abuse, before his convictions were quashed on appeal.

Former conservative Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, a friend who visited Pell in prison, said the cardinal’s name had been tainted by a “monstrous allegation”.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Thursday emphatically ruled out a taxpayer-funded memorial for Cardinal George Pell, saying it would be “deeply distressing” for sexual abuse survivors.

Pell, who died in Rome aged 81, was a towering figure in the Catholic Church but deeply divisive at home in Australia, where he had been accused of molesting two teenage choir boys while archbishop of Melbourne.

Born in Victoria and once celebrated within the state, he was the highest-ranking Catholic to be imprisoned for child sexual abuse, before his convictions were quashed on appeal.

Premier Andrews said Pell’s legacy had been permanently tainted.

“We will never ever forget victim-survivors of institutional child sexual abuse at the hands of the Catholic Church,” Andrews told reporters.

“There will be no memorial service or state funeral because I think that would be a deeply, deeply distressing thing for every victim-survivor of Catholic Church child sexual abuse.” State funerals are reserved for high-profile figures who have made significant contributions to Australian public life.

Cardinal George Pell (L), Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley (C) and Former archbishop of Los Angeles cardinal Roger Mahony (R) attend the closing of the Jubilee of Mercy in St Peter's Square in 2016.

Pell voluntarily returned to Australia in 2016 to face accusations that he molested two 13-year-old choirboys in the 1990s.

In 2019, he was sentenced to six years in prison and registered as a sex offender.

He spent 12 months behind bars before the Australian High Court quashed his convictions on appeal -- opening the door for his return to Rome in late 2020.

Pell was also condemned for his failure to stamp out the broader problem of sexual abuse inside Australia’s Catholic Church.

Pell died of heart complications related to a hip surgery he underwent in a Rome hospital on Tuesday, according to the Vatican’s official news website.

His body will be returned to Australia and buried in the crypt of St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, church officials said.