George Pell - the View from the Pew
By Kristina Keneally
At one level, I always felt a bit of sympathy for Cardinal George Pell. He's a product of a particular time and culture in the Catholic Church. I can't imagine he was overjoyed as Bishop of Sydney to have me, a theologically-trained Catholic feminist Premier on his hands. In the lead up to World Youth Day, the Cardinal and I were preparing to do a media event. I had advised him that I would open the press conference, and then throw to him. He said, “Minister, what would you like me to say?” I replied, “Your Eminence, I've been waiting my whole life for a Cardinal to ask me that question.” He looked at me blankly. “I'm sorry. I don't understand. What do you want me to say?” Some people swear the Cardinal has a great sense of humour. I suspect those people are men. In my interactions with him, I never saw evidence of it. I am pleased for Cardinal Pell as he takes up a significant promotion to oversee the Vatican administration and financial operations. It's a serious job that will place him at the centre of the Church's operations. But I am more pleased with Pope Francis for making such a clever choice. The Pope has likely tapped the right man for the job. But the Pope has also given Australian Catholics a reason to breathe a sigh of relief as their local Cardinal now heads off to Rome. Since coming to Sydney in 2001, Cardinal Pell tried to force the Australian Catholic Church into the shape he wanted it to be: conservative, doctrinaire, and authority-based. If Mass attendance is any indicator, Australian Catholics voted with their feet – or perhaps, their knees – and rejected Pell's approach. Of course, decline in Mass attendance started before Pell took office, but he failed to arrest the trend. What the Catholic Church in Australia missed over the past decade was the opportunity to develop a distinctive local expression of faith that makes the Gospel relevant to our country today. Jesus had a lot to say about welcoming the stranger, and about caring for the poor, the sick and the imprisoned. Under Pell's leadership, the Catholic Church had a lot to say on abortion, stem cell research, and same sex relationships, but never spoke as strongly as it could have on asylum seekers and refugees, income inequality, and indigenous disadvantage and reconciliation. Then, of course, there is the scandal of the sexual abuse of children. As a mother and a Catholic, I am horrified by the abuse inflicted by Catholic priests and teachers on children in their care. I am further angered by an institution that failed to take these reports seriously and, in some cases, simply moved predators on to unsuspecting new parishes. Some people have tried to implicate the Cardinal in these actions. Let me be clear. I make no accusation against Cardinal Pell when it comes to the sexual abuse crisis, except this one: that he has not responded well as a pastor, and that he lacks evident compassion and humility in the face of story after story of failure in the Catholic Church to deal with the sexual abuse of children. Unfortunately, his public statements indicate an inclination to protect the institution rather than the vulnerable. To be fair to our Ballarat-born Melbournian Cardinal, I don't think he ever quite understood the egalitarian, pragmatic nature of Sydney or the lay of the media landscape here. Whereas Francis and John Paul II are natural media performers, Pell seemed to struggle to use the media to its best effect. This won't be an issue in Pell's new role. Francis doesn't need a media darling to oversee the Vatican Bank – he needs a tough-minded loyalist and a man who will enforce the rules. Cardinal Pell is a gift the Australian Catholic Church is happy to give our new Pope.
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