Church in Australia reacts with ‘shock,’ sadness at news of Cardinal Pell’s death

Abbott, who briefly trained as a Catholic seminarian, praised Pell as a “committed defender of Catholic orthodoxy and a staunch advocate for the virtues of Western Civilization.” 

Born in 1941 in the town of Ballarat, Pell was ordained a priest at St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, in 1966. He studied both at the Pontifical University Urbaniana and the University of Oxford. 

As the highest-ranking Australian prelate of the Church and an outspoken public figure, Pell was described as “progressive on many social issues” but frequently polarized public opinion when it came to morality and the faith.

“As an ecclesiastical and cultural conservative, he attracted praise and blame from all the expected quarters,” the former prime minister of Australia wrote. 

“In fact, he was a very pastoral priest who well understood the human stain and was more than capable of empathizing with sinners while still counseling against sin.” 

Referring to Pell’s time in prison for alleged sexual abuse, Abbott added: “His incarceration on charges that the High Court ultimately scathingly dismissed was a modern form of crucifixion; reputationally at least a kind of living death.” 

“In his own way, by dealing so equably with a monstrous allegation, he strikes me as a saint for our times.”

AC Wimmer is founding Editor-in-Chief of CNA Deutsch. A former senior executive with public broadcaster SBS and graduate of the University of Melbourne and Monash University (Australia), he has worked as a journalist across the globe. Before joining EWTN News, the Australian with Bavarian roots was Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Munich.