Pell judgment a Catholic burden

The Catholic Church in Melbourne has reached a “moment of Golgotha’’, the site of Christ’s crucifixion near Jerusalem.

Archbishop Mark Coleridge after the service at St Stephens Cathedral, Brisbane.

The Catholic Church in Melbourne has reached a “moment of Golgotha’’, the site of Christ’s crucifixion near Jerusalem, Melbourne’s Archbishop Peter Comensoli told a subdued congregation at the solemn mass at St  Patrick’s Cathedral yesterday.

He said last week’s revelation that Cardinal George Pell had been convicted of child sexual abuse after the same mass, in the same cathedral in late 1996, had provoked reactions ranging from deep anger to desolation to distress.

Archbishop of Melbourne Peter Comensoli. Picture: Aaron Francis

In Sydney, Archbishop Anthony Fisher said legal process regarding the cardinal was not complete, “so I will not comment upon it. I urge people not to draw any final conclusions until the appeal judges have had their chance to review this matter. Amidst the heated emotions of the present, I also pray for public calm and civility.’’

He said some people had raised “serious questions for the appellate court to examine’’.

“If we are too quick to judge, we can end up joining the demonisers or the apologists, those baying for blood or those in denial.’’

The archbishops, who are each former auxiliary bishops to Pell, repeated apologies to victims who had suffered at the hands of clergy and other church personnel. Archbishop Fisher said Lent, a time for examination of conscience, had come early for the church “and we may feel somehow contaminated by the darkness surrounding us’’.

He said many people were “disheartened, and are uncertain how to go on believing, worshipping, living the Christian gospel; indeed, they are not even sure they want to. But as some crimes cry out to heaven for vengeance or vindication, so it is to heaven that we must look for truth and for repair.

“As he awaits the conclusion of his legal process, the cardinal is offering this time for all innocents who suffer; we faithful can do likewise with the shame and sorrow we are feeling. I pray that the church will emerge from present trials purified, humbler, more compassionate.’’

After mass in Melbourne, Archbishop Comensoli walked to the front of the sanctuary to address the congregation directly, reading a letter he wrote on Friday to Catholic organisations in Melbourne. It described the past week as one of “great pain and shame, of bewilderment and disheartenment’’.

He said the release of the news about Pell’s conviction “has polarised our society on a broad level’’. “I want to acknowledge the devastating impact this may have had on each and every one of you, both in the release of the details and in how this news has been publicly received. You have every right to hold your own personal understanding of what has unfolded,’’ he wrote. “I ask that you be mindful of the judicial process still under way.”

Tess Livingstone’s biography of George Pell was published in 2002. She was asked for and provided a character reference for his trial that was not tendered.