The late great George Pell and his enemies, part 2

In 2014, the newly elected Pope Francis decided to improve the state of the Vatican’s finances. He appointed the Australian cardinal George Pell (1941-2023) to be the first prefect of his new Secretariat for the Economy. Pell was seen as the sort of no-nonsense, thorough, and intelligent cardinal who could corral other cardinals into cleaning up their mess.

Pell ordered audits, established policy guidelines, and began to investigate the financial affairs of different Vatican offices. One would think that simply trying to introduce transparency into the Vatican finances would be non-controversial. One would be wrong.

Just as Pell began to uncover problems, a series of child sexual abuse charges from Australia were leveled at Pell in 2017. While he could have remained in Rome and avoided the trial as others have done, he chose to return to his native country to clear his name.

The Victoria Police had apparently spared no expense in trying to uncover dirt on George Pell—and him alone—going back to 2013. They produced dozens of witnesses in court in 2018, but those alleged witnesses could only offer fuzzy charges and testimonies, which is why the jury could not agree on a verdict.

Their indecision is not surprising because the two strongest allegations against Pell sound ridiculous to anyone who has regularly attended the Catholic Mass. Two boys claimed that Pell exposed himself to them after Mass in the sacristy of the cathedral. But how could Pell reasonably have done that while fully vested for Mass? Why wouldn’t he have been outside the front door of church, like every other priest after a Sunday Mass (including Pell), talking to his parishioners? Where were the other priests who typically accompany a bishop at Mass? And wouldn’t it have been incredibly stupid for a priest to expose himself in a public place like the sacristy, where a random parishioner might show up at any moment to ask for a blessing of a new rosary?

Despite the ludicrousness of the accusations, Pell was convicted during a retrial. He was sentenced to prison in 2019 and spent 404 days in prison, almost entirely in solitary confinement, deprived even of the ability to celebrate Mass.

But Pell appealed the decision to the High Court of Australia, and the court reversed its decision in 2020. After his release from prison, he published his prison journals to pay for the costs of his legal defense.

Pell had suffered from heart problems since 2010, partially due to his grueling work and travel schedule. Although cardiac problems made it dangerous for him to have surgery, he decided to have his second hip replaced because of the constant pain. He was also concerned that Pope Francis’ declining health would soon lead to a new conclave, and “he was determined to have his say”¹ as the cardinals gathered in advance. Pell’s death was unexpected because he seemed to be doing well immediately after surgery, but his death was attributed to his cardiac condition.

In retrospect, it is easy to see that a fascinating series of coincidences occurred during Pell’s tenure as prefect of the Secretariat of the Economy. Exactly when he was investigating financial improprieties in the Vatican, he was forced to leave Rome and face trial on charges that are so weak as to be barely believable. During this same period, multiple individuals within the Secretariat of State, including a cardinal, became involved in a financial scheme involving embezzlement and extortion, leading them to be convicted (though still appealing the decision) in 2023. After his release from prison, Pell discovered that in 2019—while he was on trial—someone in the Vatican sent $2 million to someone in Australia, apparently under orders from that same cardinal. In 2021, Pell publicly asked the cardinal to explain to the world who received that $2 million and why. The world is still waiting for a convincing answer.

It is clear that George Cardinal Pell had many enemies. He was vilified by an anti-Catholic Australian media and may have been set up by greedy Vatican employees to get him out of the way. Over the years, anti-Catholic protestors (including those offended by his statements about homosexual behavior) picketed his Masses, yelled threats at him, and spray-painted personal attacks in graffiti on his cathedral.

We can have more sympathy with one group of people who publicly opposed Pell. Those Australians who were victims of sexual abuse (or their family members) may have mistakenly felt that convicting Pell would help them get even with their abusers. While sexual abuse is notoriously difficult to prove conclusively, recent high-profile cases have shown that when true abusers are publicly confronted by one victim, other victims often feel free to testify as well, making it obvious that there was a pattern of criminal behavior, not an isolated or unconfirmable incident. More victims did not appear during or after the public trials against George Pell.

But God knows the truth about George Pell, not only about his guilt or innocence related to these charges, but also whether he is now a saint in Heaven.

One could certainly make an argument against Pell’s holiness because he was sometimes brusque when he was verbally attacked and spoke too bluntly for many people’s sensitivities. But he was also willing to apologize, correct his statements, and admit his mistakes. He never showed any animosity towards those who falsely accused and convicted him, even joking to his friends that being in jail was like being “on retreat”.²

Instead, he obeyed our Lord’s command to “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”³ His prison journals similarly have the flavor of a Catholic priest who is sharing his thoughts during a period of peaceful solitude with Jesus Christ, not a guilty, older man confined to solitary confinement who knows he will probably end his days in prison. That could have happened to Pell.

While some saints have been easy to identify as holy men and women during their lifetimes—only a few atheists were confused about the holiness of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, for example—that’s not always the case.

When Saint John of the Cross died in 1591, two priests had spread vicious lies about him throughout Spain, and unfortunately, they were believed. A century later, their lies had been disproved, his writings had been fully examined, miracles had occurred through John’s intercession, and John was declared a saint. Similar stories could be told about Saint Gerard Majella, Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, and other saints, including many martyrs.

In March 2025, an eighteen-month-old boy fell into a pool and stopped breathing for fifty-two minutes. He should have died or at least suffered serious damage to his brain, heart, or lungs. His parents, who had met Cardinal Pell in 2021, prayed constantly for Pell’s intercession to save their child’s life during the period when the boy was, literally, dead. Inexplicably, the baby survived, came off life support, and showed no signs of long-term damage.

Is it a miracle? Will God grant supernatural favors to those who ask for the intercession of George Pell, if for no other reason than to convince us that injustice was done to this faithful, hardworking Catholic priest? Only time will tell.

But either way, we can hope that those who considered George Pell to be their enemy will think about their own past mistakes, ask forgiveness from others, and pray for those who have harmed them. For that, after all, is what George Cardinal Pell—in imitation of Jesus Christ—did for them.

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