Dr Gavin Ashenden is joined this week by Edward Pentin, the distinguished English Catholic journalist and veteran Rome correspondent, to discuss the triumphs and tribulations of Cardinal George Pell, a giant of the Catholic Church who died suddenly last week following routine surgery.

Cardinal Pell is recalled as a man of integrity, orthodoxy and compassion, a stalwart opponent of the “dictatorship of relativism” who dined with the poor and homeless, and a reformer who dared to sweep out an Augean Stables of corruption in the Vatican finances but whose work was interrupted by allegations of child abuse which the Australian High Court later dismissed as spurious.

In this 33rd episode of the Merely Catholic podcast series for The Catholic Herald, Dr Ashenden and Mr Pentin also discuss the legacy of man who fearlessly expressed some very controversial opinions while remaining an indisputably loyal son of the Church.