1. George Pell was an Australian cardinal of the Catholic Church.
116 Facts About George Pell
1. 2.
George Pell served as the eighth Archbishop of Sydney, the seventh Archbishop of Melbourne and an auxiliary bishop of Melbourne.
3.
George Pell worked as a priest in rural Victoria and in Melbourne and chaired the aid organisation Caritas Australia from 1988 to 1997.
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George Pell was appointed a delegate to the Australian Constitutional Convention in 1998, received the Centenary Medal from the Australian government in 2003 and was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours.
5.
However, in January 2025 it was announced that the Australian National Redress Scheme had accepted that George Pell abused two boys in Ballarat in the 1970s, with compensation paid to one of the boys in question five weeks prior to George Pell's death.
6.
George Pell said he was "surprised" and that the royal commission's findings "are not supported by evidence".
7.
George Pell's father was a non-practising Anglican whose ancestors were from Leicestershire in England; he was a heavyweight boxing champion.
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George Pell's mother was a devout Catholic of Irish descent.
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George Pell attended Loreto Convent and St Patrick's College in Ballarat.
10.
George Pell reportedly signed with the Richmond Football Club in 1959.
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In 1960, George Pell began his studies for the priesthood at Corpus Christi College, then located in Werribee.
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George Pell continued to play football and served as class prefect in his second and third years.
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George Pell was ordained to the diaconate on 15 August 1966.
14.
On 16 December 1966, George Pell was ordained a priest by Cardinal Gregorio Pietro Agagianian at St Peter's Basilica.
15.
George Pell received a Licentiate of Sacred Theology degree from the Pontificia Universita Urbaniana in 1967, and continued his studies at the University of Oxford where he earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in church history in 1971 with a thesis entitled "The exercise of authority in early Christianity from about 170 to about 270".
16.
In 1971, George Pell returned to Australia and was assigned to serve as an assistant priest in Swan Hill, where he remained for two years.
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George Pell then served at a parish in Ballarat East from 1973 to 1983, becoming administrator of the parish of Bungaree in 1984.
18.
George Pell was editor of Light, the newspaper of the Diocese of Ballarat, from 1979 to 1984.
19.
From 1985 to 1987, George Pell served as seminary rector of his alma mater, Corpus Christi College.
20.
George Pell was appointed an auxiliary bishop of Melbourne and titular Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Scala on 30 March 1987.
21.
George Pell received his episcopal consecration on 21 May 1987 from Archbishop Frank Little, with bishops Ronald Mulkearns and Joseph O'Connell serving as co-consecrators.
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George Pell served as Bishop for the Southern Region of Melbourne.
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George Pell was named seventh Archbishop of Melbourne on 16 July 1996, receiving the pallium from Pope John Paul II on 29 June 1997.
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George Pell was later appointed eighth Archbishop of Sydney on 26 March 2001 and again received the pallium from John Paul on 29 June 2001.
25.
George Pell was a consultor of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace from 1990 to 1995 and a member from 2002.
26.
On 22 September 2012, George Pell was appointed a member of the Congregation for Bishops.
27.
George Pell was one of the cardinal electors in 2005 who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that elected Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI.
28.
George Pell is reported to have served as an unauthorised "campaign manager" for Ratzinger.
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George Pell was mentioned as a possible successor to Benedict XVI as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
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George Pell instituted new guidelines in February 2007 for family members speaking at funerals.
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George Pell lobbied for the successful Sydney bid to host the 2008 World Youth Day, which brought Benedict XVI on his first papal visit to Australia.
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On 18 September 2012, George Pell was named by Benedict XVI to be one of the papally appointed Synod Fathers for the October 2012 Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization.
33.
George Pell was the only cardinal from Oceania to take part in the 2013 papal conclave.
34.
In February 2014, George Pell was appointed to be the first prefect of the newly created Secretariat for the Economy.
35.
George Pell was appointed a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples on 13 September 2014.
36.
On 12 December 2018, the Vatican announced that George Pell was one of three "more elderly" cardinals who were to leave the Pope's Council of Cardinal Advisers after a five-year term.
37.
When George Pell's conviction was upheld in August 2019, the Vatican again said its review would wait for George Pell to exhaust his appeals.
38.
When George Pell's convictions were quashed in April 2020, a Vatican spokesperson said that ruling would contribute to the CDF's investigation which would "draw its conclusions on the basis of the norms of canon law".
39.
In January 2010, George Pell experienced cardiac problems during his Vatican visit, and in February had a pacemaker fitted in a Rome hospital.
40.
George Pell was expected to be well enough to travel in February 2016.
41.
George Pell testified from a hotel in Rome through a video link up.
42.
George Pell recovered sufficiently to stop using a cane by June 2019.
43.
On 10 January 2023, at the age of 81, George Pell died of cardiac arrest following hip surgery at the Salvator Mundi hospital in Rome, having attended the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI a few days earlier.
44.
George Pell was often wary of what he called the "callousness" of unrestrained capitalism.
45.
In 2009 George Pell supported, in the abstract but not as a proposal for immediate application, mandatory celebration of the Canon of the Mass with the orientation of the priest ad orientem, facing in the same direction as the congregation.
46.
In 2005 George Pell supported the view that the ordination of women as priests is impossible according to the church's divine constitution and said that abandoning the tradition of clerical celibacy would be a "serious blunder".
47.
George Pell said that the decision of Pope Benedict XVI to retire in 2013 could set a precedent which may be a problem for future leaders.
48.
George Pell thought Benedict's decision to step down had destabilised the church and some of those surrounding the Pope had failed to support him in his ministry.
49.
George Pell accused Francis of failing to stand up to the Chinese Communist Party, of failing to lend sufficient support to Ukraine and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and for not doing enough to stop the Catholic Church in Germany from questioning traditional doctrines on LGBT issues and women's ordination.
50.
The person who had revealed Demos' identity, Sandro Magister, who was the memo's publisher, said that George Pell had allowed him to reveal he was Demos after his death.
51.
George Pell criticised the bipartisan policy of mandatory detention of asylum seekers in Australia and called for "empathy and compassion" towards displaced peoples.
52.
George Pell said that while a policy of deterrence was justifiable, the practice of the policy was coming at too great a "moral cost".
53.
In July 2015, George Pell criticised Pope Francis's encyclical Laudato si' for associating the church with the need to address climate.
54.
George Pell publicly expressed concern regarding population decline in July 2008 in a homily for the opening Mass of the World Youth Day in Sydney, in response to comments made by Pope Benedict XVI regarding climate change.
55.
George Pell stated in his homily that mankind has a duty not "to damage and destroy or ruthlessly use the environment at the expense of future generations", but expressed scepticism regarding human activity causing climate change.
56.
George Pell said during the 2012 dinner that such gatherings are one of the fruits of tolerance that flourishes in Australian society and is a sign of respect for diversity, stating:.
57.
George Pell spoke of the need to remember the Holocaust and of his visits to concentration camps and of his support for the right of the state of Israel to exist.
58.
George Pell praised the role of Vatican II and of Pope John Paul II in advancing the cause of Christian-Jewish dialogue and co-operation.
59.
George Pell spoke in praise of the Jewish psalms as "a body of prayerful literature" unequalled in any other tradition and singled out the Jewish prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel as authors for whom he has a deep love, and Elijah as one whom he views as highly significant.
60.
George Pell called on Christian and Jewish leaders alike to speak together and respectfully listen to each other, saying of the Christian-Jewish relationship:.
61.
George Pell said that, outside exceptional circumstances such as relationships involving physical abuse, it is better for individuals and for society if couples do not divorce, particularly where children are involved.
62.
In 2001, ABC radio's The World Today reported that George Pell wanted a return to a divorce system based on the fault of one spouse.
63.
George Pell told the program that, in an effort to "focus attention on the damage, personal and financial, that unfortunately often follows from divorce", he had prepared a list for public consideration of possible penalties to discourage divorce as well as benefits to support couples who stayed together.
64.
George Pell publicly rebuked their actions to the applause of other parishioners.
65.
George Pell opposed Australian legislation in 2006 that would have permitted LGBT couples to adopt children.
66.
George Pell released a statement saying this did not signal a major new shift in Vatican thinking.
67.
George Pell described this move as a "clumsy attempt to curb religious freedom and freedom of speech".
68.
George Pell accepted the invitation to be patron of the Oxford University Newman Society and to deliver their inaugural St Thomas More Lecture on 6 March 2009.
69.
Shortly after becoming Archbishop of Melbourne in August 1996, George Pell discussed the issue of child abuse with the Victorian premier as well as the governor and the retired judge Richard McGarvie, who all recommended swift action.
70.
George Pell engaged the law firm Corrs to draft a scheme which would be funded by but operate independently of the Archdiocese of Melbourne.
71.
On 27 May 2013, George Pell gave evidence before Victoria's Parliamentary Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations.
72.
George Pell told the inquiry that he was "fully apologetic and absolutely sorry".
73.
George Pell said he had in fact fully understood the suffering.
74.
George Pell agreed with the inquiry that his predecessor had "covered up" matters for fear of scandal.
75.
George Pell denied the statement, which NewsCorp outlets later claimed to have been discredited saying George Pell had shown his passport to NewsCorp paper the Herald Sun to prove he was not living in Australia that year.
76.
George Pell said he was "deeply sorry this has happened" and told his listeners to "help those who have been hurt".
77.
George Pell has complained of unfair treatment from the media and "relentless character assassination".
78.
Marshall raised the allegation that George Pell had attempted to "bribe" a victim.
79.
However, George Pell was cross-examined by Counsel Assisting Gail Furness over the widely publicised statement that in 1993, he attempted to bribe David Ridsdale into silence when Ridsdale called him about the historical misconduct of his child-molesting priest uncle Gerald Ridsdale.
80.
Nicky Davis, from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said that George Pell had made a "highly offensive" comparison.
81.
In June 2016 the Holy See Press Office director Federico Lombardi announced that George Pell would continue in his role as prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, despite being obliged to submit his resignation on turning 75.
82.
George Pell was part of a leadership group of priests in the Diocese of Ballarat who met during 1982 and discussed moving Ridsdale from the parish at Mortlake and sending him to Sydney.
83.
George Pell responded that the commission's views "are not supported by evidence".
84.
George Pell had told the commission that, in 1989, he received a list of grievances about Searson.
85.
George Pell removed Searson in 1997 when he had become the archbishop.
86.
George Pell did not remove Baker then, resulting in Baker continuing as a priest in a parish with a primary school until May 1997.
87.
George Pell denied the accusations and stood aside while the inquiry continued.
88.
George Pell said he had been exonerated, while the complainant's solicitor said his client had been vindicated.
89.
In March 2013, Victoria Police launched Operation Tethering to investigate whether George Pell had committed unreported crimes.
90.
George Pell's office issued a statement denying the allegations, and asked for an inquiry into the leaking of information by Victoria Police officers.
91.
Victoria Police remained silent on whether George Pell was being investigated.
92.
In February 2017, Victoria Police advised that the brief of evidence against George Pell had been returned to the Office of Public Prosecutions.
93.
At a press conference in Rome, George Pell denied the allegations.
94.
On 26 July 2017, George Pell appeared at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court and entered a plea of not guilty.
95.
George Pell's lawyers requested but were denied the personal medical information of the complainants.
96.
George Pell's defence was reported to be based on questioning the timing of allegations.
97.
The committal hearing to determine whether there was enough evidence to commit George Pell to stand trial commenced on 5 March 2018.
98.
George Pell's barrister said the allegations involving St Patrick's Cathedral were impossible.
99.
On 2 May 2018, George Pell appeared in the County Court of Victoria for a directions hearing before Judge Sue Pullen.
100.
The purpose of the order was to prevent prejudice to George Pell caused by jurors in the swimmers trial knowing the outcome of the cathedral trial.
101.
George Pell's barrister informed Chief Judge Kidd that the guilty verdict was accessible on Wikipedia.
102.
News of George Pell's conviction was published in Australia on 26 February 2019 when the suppression order was lifted following the withdrawal.
103.
At a pre-sentencing hearing on 27 February 2019, George Pell's bail was revoked and he was taken into custody at the Melbourne Assessment Prison.
104.
George Pell's lawyers released a statement that George Pell maintained his innocence, and advised that an appeal had been filed on three grounds.
105.
The sentencing hearing on 13 March 2019 was broadcast live to the public, with Chief Judge Kidd sentencing George Pell to serve six years in jail with a non-parole period of three years and eight months.
106.
George Pell served 404 days in prison, much of it in solitary confinement, before being acquitted.
107.
The Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria heard pleadings for George Pell being granted leave to appeal simultaneously with the appeal itself in June 2019.
108.
Three grounds of appeal were lodged: that the verdict was unreasonable, that permission to use in their closing address a visual aid prepared by the defence that illustrated the locations of people within the cathedral around the time of the first assault had been refused, and that George Pell had not been arraigned in the presence of the jury as is required under standard criminal procedures in Victoria.
109.
In September 2019, George Pell sought special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia, the final court of appeal in Australia.
110.
George Pell's lawyers submitted that George Pell's conviction should be overturned on the basis that, in the face of exculpatory evidence, the Court of Appeal had relied on their belief in the complainant to eliminate doubt and uphold the conviction.
111.
George Pell said the ABC had betrayed the national interest in overwhelmingly presenting a single view of the case, and that he was a target because of his socially conservative views.
112.
The ABC dismissed criticisms of its coverage and defended its pursuit of George Pell as having been without fear or favour.
113.
Right-wing commentator Keith Windschuttle published a book, The Persecution of George Pell, arguing that Pell had faced a concerted campaign by Victorian police, judiciary and victims' advocates to convict him on flimsy evidence.
114.
George Pell did not accept their submission that their breach of the suppression order was an honest mistake.
115.
In 2022, the father of a schoolboy who was allegedly abused by George Pell launched legal action against George Pell and the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne.
116.
George Pell wrote widely in religious and secular magazines, including journals and newspapers in Australia and overseas.