Australian Cardinal George Pell Dies in Rome at 81

ROME — The indomitable Cardinal George Pell, Australia’s leading Catholic prelate for decades, died in Rome late Tuesday at the age of 81.

Cardinal Pell had hip replacement surgery in Rome on Tuesday but went into cardiac arrest just hours later and died due to complications from the procedure.

In 2014, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Pell the first prefect of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy, but his digging into illicit financial operations during his tenure made his presence uncomfortable and he was “progressively marginalized.”

Pell’s investigations eventually culminated in the trial for “financial crimes” of the Vatican’s former no. 3 man, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, which is still ongoing.

A fearless and cogent defender of Catholic orthodoxy, Cardinal Pell was falsely accused of sexual abuse and convicted in 2018. He served 404 days in prison, many of them in solitary confinement, before finally being “completely exonerated” of all charges in a unanimous judgment by the Australian High Court in April 2020.

During the period of his confinement, Pell wrote a three-volume work titled Prison Journal, chronicling his prison experiences and reflections on numerous subjects.

A controversial figure, Pell was lionized by conservatives for his tireless proclamation of Catholic teaching and his commonsense approach to social issues, while detested by the left ostensibly for the same reasons.

Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott released a statement following Pell’s death, saying the country had “lost a great son and the Church has lost a great leader.”

The cardinal was “a committed defender of Catholic orthodoxy and a staunch advocate for the virtues of Western Civilisation,” Abbott wrote, adding that he “attracted praise and blame from all the expected quarters.”

Abbott described Pell’s incarceration as a “modern form of crucifixion,” which at least reputationally was “a kind of living death.”

“By dealing so equably with a monstrous allegation, he strikes me as a saint for our times,” Abbott said.

Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli of Melbourne expressed his “great sadness” over the news of the cardinal’s death.

“May eternal light now be his, who so steadfastly believed in the God of Jesus Christ,” he wrote.

“Larger than life, Cardinal Pell was a highly intelligent and well-read man who took a genuine interest in everyone around him,” wrote Bishop Richard Umbers, an auxiliary bishop in Sydney, adding that Pell had been a “pioneer” for much good in Sydney and the entire Church.

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