SYDNEY – Cardinal George Pell — a large of the Catholic Church who was convicted and later cleared of sexual abuse in Australia — has died in Rome aged 81, a church official confirmed Wednesday.
From humble beginnings in regional Australia, Pell climbed the ranks to grow to be one among Pope Francis’ most trusted advisers contained in the Vatican.
But his meteoric rise was tainted by felony convictions — later quashed — for molesting two Australian choir boys within the Nineteen Nineties whereas he was the Archbishop of Melbourne.
“It is with deep sadness that I can confirm His Eminence, Cardinal George Pell, passed away in Rome in the early hours of this morning,” Australian Archbishop Anthony Fisher stated in a press release offered to AFP.
“This news comes as a great shock to all of us.”
While Church figures praised Pell’s legacy, Australian attorneys confirmed on Wednesday they’d plough forward with a civil case that listed him as a co-defendant.
The case had been introduced by the daddy of a former altar boy who alleged he was sexually abused by Pell.
“The claim will continue against the church and whatever estate Pell has left behind,” Shine Lawyers stated in a press release.
Pell died of issues associated to a hip surgical procedure he had undergone in a Rome hospital on Tuesday, based on the Vatican’s official news web site.
Before he was imprisoned in Australia, Pell was extensively seen because the right-hand man of Pope Francis and the third strongest determine within the church.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who describes himself as a non-practicing Catholic, prolonged his condolences “to all those who will be mourning”.
12 months in jail
In 2014, Pell was tasked with rooting out church corruption as the top of the Secretariat for the Economy.
He voluntarily returned to Australia in 2017 to face expenses of sexual abuse, which he strenuously denied till his demise.
The first trial resulted in a hung jury, however a second trial discovered Pell responsible of sexually abusing two 13-year-old choirboys.
In 2019, he was sentenced to 6 years in jail and registered as a intercourse offender.
He spent 12 months in Barwon Prison close to Melbourne earlier than the Australian High Court quashed his convictions following an attraction — opening the door for his return to Rome in late 2020.
Pell was embraced by the church regardless of the scandal and was acquired by the Pope contained in the Apostolic Palace in October 2020.
He was amongst these in attendance on the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI at St Peter’s Square final week.
Archbishop of Perth Timothy Costelloe stated Pell’s “many strengths were widely recognized” and his influence on the Church would “continue to be felt for many years”.
Criticized by inquiry
Although cleared by the courts, a separate authorities inquiry criticized Pell’s obvious indifference to sexual abuse claims as he rose to prominence in Australia’s Catholic Church.
“By 1973, Cardinal Pell was not only conscious of child sexual abuse by clergy but that he also had considered measures of avoiding situations which might provoke gossip about it,” a Royal Commission concluded in 2020.
Born within the regional city of Ballarat within the state of Victoria, Pell climbed increased within the Catholic Church than some other Australian earlier than him.
Archbishop of Melbourne Peter Comensoli on Wednesday stated Pell was a “very significant and influential church leader, both in Australia and internationally”.
Former conservative Australian prime minister Tony Abbott beforehand referred to as Pell “one of the greatest churchmen that Australia has seen”. —Agence France-Presse
