In Memoriam: Cardinal George Pell

Salt + Light Media

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

Photo courtesy of Vatican News. Used with permission.

We are saddened to hear of the death of Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop emeritus of Sydney, Prefect emeritus of the Secretariat for the Economy, and courageous leader of the Church throughout the world.

We are especially grateful for his tireless efforts to increase the integrity and transparency of the Holy See’s financial operations, as an integral part of the Holy Father’s widespread program of administrative reform. In an age of rapid transactions and the ever-growing temptation to cut corners, Cardinal Pell called the Church to a higher standard of fiscal responsibility, governance, and international accounting standards.

We also acknowledge that the final years of his life involved a long and difficult ordeal. We thank God that Cardinal Pell has departed from this life with a clear conscience.

We commend his soul, and the souls of all the departed, to the mercy and compassion of Our Lord.

Official Biography, Courtesy of the Holy See Press Office:

Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop emeritus of Sydney (Australia), Prefect emeritus of the Secretariat for the Economy of the Holy See and the Vatican City State, was born on 8 June 1941 in Ballarat, Australia. He was ordained on 16 December 1966 and holds a licentiate in theology from the Urbaniana University of Rome, a master’s degree in education from Monash University and a doctorate of philosophy in Church History from the University of Oxford. Cardinal Pell served as Director of the Aquinas Campus of the Institute of Catholic Education (1974-84) and Principal of the Institute of Catholic Education (1981-1984). He was Episcopal Vicar for Education in the Diocese of Ballarat and a founding member of the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria.

On 30 March 1987 he was elected titular Bishop of Scala and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Melbourne, and received episcopal ordination on 21 May 1987.

From 1988-1997 he was Chairman of Caritas Australia. During that same period, he was member of the National Catholic Commission and from 1994-1997 he was Secretary to the Bishops’ Committee for Education. In 1989, Cardinal Pell was appointed Chairman of the committee charged with setting up the new Australian Catholic University, and in 1991-1995 he served as pro-chancellor of the University’s Foundation. From 1985-1987 he was Rector of Corpus Christi College, the Provincial Seminary for Victoria and Tasmania. In 1990, he attended the Synod of Bishops in Rome on the preparation of priests, where he served as one of the Synod spokesmen and on the committee which prepared the final Synod message. He was appointed Apostolic Visitor to the National seminaries of New Zealand (1994), Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands (1995), the Pacific (1996) and Irian Jaya and Sulawesi (1998) by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in the Vatican.

On 16 July 1996, Pope John Paul II appointed him Metropolitan Archbishop of Melbourne. He was installed as Archbishop on 16 August 1996 in a ceremony at the Exhibition Buildings, and received the Pallium from the Pope at St. Peter’s in Rome on the feast of Sts Peter and Paul, 29 June 1997. In November 1998, Cardinal Pell attended the Synod for Oceania. He was appointed by Pope John Paul II to represent the Bishops of Australia and Oceania at the Special Synod for European Bishops in 1999 and the Synod of Bishops held in 2001.

In April 2002, he was named President of the Vox Clara committee for the English translations of liturgical texts.

On 26 March 2001, the Holy Father appointed Cardinal Pell the eighth Metropolitan Archbishop of Sydney. He was installed as Archbishop at St. Mary’s Cathedral of 10 May 2001, and the following month received the Pallium for the second time at St. Peter’s in Rome on the feast of Sts Peter and Paul.

On 9 September 2008 he was appointed President Delegate of the XII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church” (5-26 October 2008), substituting for Cardinal Oswald Gracias.

On 13 April 2013 he was made a member of the Council of cardinals established to advise Pope

Francis in the government of the universal Church and to study a plan for revising the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, ‘Pastor Bonus’. On 24 February 2014 he was appointed Prefect of the new Secretariat for the Economy of the Holy See and the Vatican City State.

He participated in the conclave of April 2005, which elected Pope Benedict XVI and in the conclave of March 2013, which elected Pope Francis. Created and proclaimed Cardinal by St. John Paul II in the consistory of 21 October 2003, of the Title of S. Maria Domenica Mazzarello (St. Mary Domenica Mazzarello).

Cardinal Pell died on 10 January 2023.