Pell Legacy Shame Failure
Title: OPINION Cardinal Pell: a legacy of shame and failure
Author: Barney Zwartz
Publisher: The Age
Date: 08MAY2020
It may be possible – remotely – as Cardinal George Pell claims, that he did not know about the crimes of paedophile Gerald Ridsdale until much later than the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse thinks he did. But if so, it must have required the most herculean effort, the most Nelsonian blind eye, to avoid something so well known that priests in Ballarat and Melbourne were gossiping about it.
For the young and ambitious Pell, a priest in Ballarat clearly destined for high office, knew one thing: whistle-blowers don’t go on to glorious careers in the institutions they hold to account. Embarrass the church, and you can forget about a cardinal’s red hat and a vital Vatican role.
This royal commission finding has now defined Pell’s legacy, and it is a sad one of shame and failure. There is scarcely a higher verdict possible on earth than that of a royal commission, though Pell, of course, believes in a higher one to come. The finding that such a senior prelate lied – for that is the effect of the language, if not the language itself – is a terrible indictment, especially for a prince of the church, a custodian of the Catholic faith and morals.
For more information visit: https://www.theage.com.au/national/cardinal-pell-a-legacy-of-shame-and-failure-20200508-p54r7s.html