Cardinal George Pell has died from a heart attack in Rome following complications after a hip operation.
The former Archbishop of Melbourne and of Sydney and Prefect Emeritus of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy died unexpectedly at 8.50pm as he was recuperating from surgery.
Until that point, the operation was understood to have been considered a success and Cardinal Pell, 81, was conscious and chatting to the nurses caring for him.
Vatican News reported that Cardinal Pell had been suffering from heart problems “for some time” and that he was fitted with a pacemaker in 2010.
There was no sign of heart trouble in the days leading to his death, however, with the cardinal concelebrating the Requiem Mass of Pope Benedict XVI just five days earlier.
Cardinal Pell is admired throughout the Church as a leader of stature and theological orthodoxy, but to many non-Catholics he is associated with his conviction and later exoneration from fabricated allegations of child abuse.
Catholics in his native Australia paid tribute to him, with former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, saying on Twitter, the social media platform, that the country had “lost a great son and the Church has lost a great leader”.
Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney said on Facebook that “this news comes as a great shock to all of us”.
“Please pray for the repose of the soul of Cardinal Pell, for comfort and consolation for his family and for all of those who loved him and are grieving him at this time,” the Dominican archbishop said.
Archbishop Peter Comensoli of Melbourne tweeted that the death of Cardinal Pell was a moment of “great sadness” adding: “May eternal light now be his, who so steadfastly believed in the God of Jesus Christ.”
In a statement posted on Twitter, Mr Abbott, a Catholic, said: “The cardinal was a committed defender of Catholic orthodoxy and a stanch advocate for the virtues of Western civilisation.
“As an ecclesiastical and cultural conservative he attracted praise and blame from all the expected quarters. In fact, he was a very pastoral priest.”
He continued: “His incarceration on charges that the High Court ultimately scathingly dismissed was a modern form of crucifixion; reputationally at least a kind of living death.
“His prison journals should become a classic – a fine man wrestling with a cruel fate and trying to make sense of unfairness and suffering.
“In the end, like Julian of Norwich, his conclusion in faith was that all would be well and all manner of things would be well.”
He added: “In his own way, by dealing so equably with a monstrous allegation, he strikes me as a saint for our times.
“Like everyone who knew him I feel a deep sense of loss but I am confident that his reputation will grow and grow and that he will become an inspiration for the ages.”
In England, tributes were led by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster president of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.
He said: “Please pray for the soul of Cardinal George Pell, a lover of cricket and England except when playing against Australia. He bore his wrongful imprisonment without bitterness. I enjoyed his company in Rome just last week. May he rest in peace.”
Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth described Cardinal Pell as a “highly intelligent and deeply spiritual man, but one very down to earth in that Australian way and with a great sense of humour”
“He was a great Anglophile,” said Bishop Egan. “He was undoubtedly a real warrior for the Faith.
“His work in Sydney as Archbishop was huge, not least his organisation of the highly successful Worth Youth Day held there.
“In Rome, he began the overhaul of the Vatican finances but unfortunately was blown off course by other factors, not least the shocking, false allegations brought against him. He sustained those and his long months in prison with amazing dignity and patience, giving us all an example of true Christ-like humility.
“After that ordeal, whenever you heard him speak, he seemed to speak with a real depth of authority and authenticity. The universal Church will really miss his voice. May he rest in peace.”
Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury also paid tribute to the late cardinal: “For generations of Catholics Cardinal George Pell took his stand with the great confessors of the Faith. He was unafraid to intelligently and clearly articulate the faith and morality on which our civilisation is built in the face of sometimes bitter opposition.
“A man unafraid because he shared serene confidence in Christ and His Church. The last witness of his Prison Diaries reveal the depth of this courage and confidence. May he finally rest in peace and may we draw strength as he did from our Saviour’s words: ‘Be not afraid.'”
Cardinal Pell was born in Ballarat, Victoria, in 1941, to an Anglican gold miner father and a mother of Irish Catholic descent.
He was ordained priest in 1966, became an an auxiliary bishop of Melbourne in 1987, and in 1996 he was named Archbishop of Melbourne.
He was appointed Archbishop of Sydney in 2001 and created a cardinal by Pope St John Paul II in 2003.
In 2012, he was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to serve as a synod father for the Synod on the New Evangelization.
Two years later, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Pell a member of his Council of Cardinals, and put him in charge of initiating a series of financial reforms.
In 2018 was jailed for six years by a court in Australia after he was convicted of sexual abuse during his time in Melbourne, but in 2020 he was completely exonerated on appeal to the High Court after spending 404 days in two maximum security prisons, including a long period of solitary confinement.
The Cardinal recorded his experience in a memoir entitled “Prison Journal,” published in three volumes by Ignatius Press.
Throughout his ministry, Cardinal Pell supported new movements and other signs of growth within the Church.
A decade ago, he came to England to preside over the Mass of foundation of the School of the Annunciation at Buckfast Abbey, the Benedictine monastery in Devon.
He described the venture as a “brave and important” initiative to preach the Gospel anew to the people of the 21st century.
(Photo credit: Ignatius Press)
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