Cardinal George Pell / Daniel Ibanez/CNA. See CNA article for full slideshow.
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 11, 2023 / 08:30 am (CNA).
Australian Cardinal George Pell died Tuesday in Rome at age 81 after suffering a cardiac arrest following a routine hip replacement surgery, his secretary confirmed to EWTN.
Church leaders in Australia reacted with sadness and shock at the news of Pell’s death. “May eternal light now be his, who so steadfastly believed in the God of Jesus Christ,” Comensoli wrote on Twitter.
“I offer sentiments of heartfelt condolence,” the pope said in a Jan. 11 message, “remembering with a grateful heart his consistent and committed witness, his dedication to the Gospel and the Church, and particularly his diligent cooperation with the Holy See in the context of its recent economic reform, of which he laid the foundations with determination and wisdom.”
The prime minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, said a memorial Mass will be held for Pell at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, where he will be buried, according to Sky News Australia.
Pell’s funeral Mass will be held at the Vatican. The date has not yet been announced.
Pell, prefect emeritus of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy, recently remembered Pope Benedict XVI during an EWTN News In Depth Interview shortly after the late pope’s death.
The Australian was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in October 2003, while he was archbishop of Sydney. Ten years later, Pope Francis appointed Pell a member of his Council of Cardinals, and the year after, he put him in charge of Vatican finances.
In 2017, Pell left Rome for Australia to defend his innocence of abuse charges. After 404 days in prison he was ultimately acquitted in 2020. He returned to live in Rome on Sept. 30, 2020, his first visit back to the city since his trial and imprisonment.
Below are photos of Pell throughout his time as cardinal.
Newly appointed Cardinal George Pell of Australia kisses Pope John Paul II’s hand in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 21, 2003, at the Vatican during the ordination ceremony of new cardinals. Photo by PAOLO COCCO/AFP via Getty Images
Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal George Pell smile at one another while thanking all the volunteers at The Domain on July 21, 2008, in Sydney, Australia. Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Cardinal George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, unveils Australia’s first pure gold (L) and silver (R) coins commemorating the canonization of Mary MacKillop in Sydney on Sept. 30, 2010. Photo by TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP via Getty Images
Australian Cardinal George Pell (R) and Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze arrive for a meeting on the eve of the start of a conclave on March 11, 2013, at the Vatican. Photo by JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images
Australian Cardinal George Pell as prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy of the Holy See attends a press conference on March 31, 2014, at the Vatican. Photo by ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP via Getty Images
Cardinal George Pell leaves the opening session of the Synod on the themes of family at Synod Hall on Oct. 5, 2015, in Vatican City, Vatican. (Photo by Giulio Origlia/Getty Images)
Australian Cardinal George Pell on June 29, 2017. Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images
Former archbishop of Sydney Cardinal George Pell attends the Chrism Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on April 13, 2017, in Vatican City, Vatican. Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images
Cardinal George Pell arrives at Melbourne County Court on Feb. 27, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. Michael Dodge/Getty Images
Cardinal George Pell gives an interview to EWTN News in Rome, Italy, on Dec. 9, 2020. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.
Australian Cardinal George Pell leaves after being released from Barwon Prison near Anakie, some 70 kilometers west of Melbourne, on April 7, 2020. Photo by WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images
Former Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal George Pell attends the Easter Vigil Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on April 16, 2022, in Vatican City, Vatican. Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images
Cardinal George Pell at the annual Eucharistic procession at the Angelicum in Rome, May 13, 2021. Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.
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The groundbreaking ceremony for the renovation of the museum and visitor center at the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Md., June 24, 2022. / Seton Shrine
Washington D.C., Mar 8, 2023 / 15:30 pm (CNA).
The Polish Bishops’ Conference says that “further archival research” is needed to fairly assess a new allegation, based on communist secret police records… […]
Pope Francis smiles during the general audience in the Vatican’s San Damaso Courtyard on June 30, 2021. / Credit: Pablo Esparza/CNA.
Vatican City, Jun 30, 2021 / 05:05 am (CNA).
Pope Francis said on Wednesday that the dramatic conversion of St. Paul should remind us that God has a plan for our lives.
Speaking at the general audience June 30, the pope noted that Paul experienced a “radical transformation” from a persecutor to an Apostle.
“How often, in the face of the Lord’s great works, does the question arise: how is it possible that God uses a sinner, a frail and weak person, to do His will?” the pope asked.
“And yet, none of this happens by chance, because everything has been prepared in God’s plan. He weaves our history, the history of each of us: He weaves our history and, if we correspond with trust to His plan of salvation, we realize it.”
The pope’s livestreamed address, dedicated to “Paul, the true Apostle,” was the second in a new cycle of catechesis on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians.
/ Pablo Esparza/CNA.
He observed that Paul began the letter by reminding the Christians in Galatia, present-day Turkey, of his deep love for them.
But Paul also recognized that the community was divided. He responded, the pope said, by underlining the novelty of the Gospel.
“We immediately discover that Paul has a profound knowledge of the mystery of Christ. From the beginning of his Letter he does not follow the low arguments used by his detractors,” the pope said.
“The Apostle ‘flies high’ and shows us, too, how to behave when conflicts arise within the community. Only towards the end of the Letter, in fact, is it made explicit that at the heart of the diatribe is the question of circumcision, hence of the main Jewish tradition.”
/ Pablo Esparza/CNA.
The pope praised Paul for identifying the issue that lay beneath the dispute, rather than seeking a quick fix.
“Paul chooses to go deeper, because what is at stake is the truth of the Gospel and the freedom of Christians, which is an integral part of it,” he said.
“He does not stop at the surface of the problems, as we are often tempted to do in order to find an immediate solution that deludes us into thinking that we can all agree with a compromise.”
“This is not how the Gospel works, and the Apostle chose to take the more challenging route.”
Paul reminded the Galatians that he was a true Apostle, the pope said, by telling the story of how he was called by God on the road to Damascus.
“On the one hand, he insists in underlining that he had fiercely persecuted the Church and that he had been a ‘blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence’ (1 Timothy 1: 13); on the other, he highlights God’s mercy towards him, which led him to experience a radical transformation, well known to all,” he observed.
Commenting on Paul’s journey from “a blameless observer of the Mosaic Law” to “a herald among the pagans,” the pope said: “We must never forget the time and the way in which God entered our lives: keep fixed in your heart and mind that encounter with grace, when God changed our existence.”
/ Pablo Esparza/CNA.
Concluding his catechesis, the pope said that when we are called by God, we also receive a mission that He wishes us to undertake.
“That is why we are asked to prepare ourselves seriously, knowing that it is God Himself who sends us, God himself who supports us with His grace,” he said.
“Let us allow ourselves to be led by this awareness: the primacy of grace transforms existence and makes it worthy of being placed at the service of the Gospel.”
/ Pablo Esparza/CNA.
A precis of the pope’s catechesis was then read out in seven languages. After each summary, he greeted members of each language group.
One of the greetings was to pilgrims from Slovakia, a country that the Vatican is considering for a possible papal visit in September.
He said: “I greet with affection the Slovakian faithful, especially the participants in the Pilgrimage of Thanksgiving of the Eparchy of Košice, which celebrates the 350th anniversary of the miraculous weeping of the icon of Our Lady of Klokočov, led by their ordinary Archbishop Cyril Vasiľ.”
/ Pablo Esparza/CNA.
“Brothers and sisters, may this celebration of the Mother of God renew in your people the faith and the lively sense of her intercession on your journey.”
Addressing Italian speakers, the pope thanked his senior driver Renzo Cestiè, who he noted was retiring that day.
“He started working when he was 14, he came by bicycle,” the pope said. “Today he is the pope’s driver: he did all of this. An applause for Renzo and his faithfulness.”
/ Pablo Esparza/CNA.
“He is one of those people who carries the Church forward with his work, with his benevolence and with his prayer. I thank him and also take the opportunity to thank the many lay people who work with us in the Vatican,” he said.
The general audience ended with the recitation of the Our Father and the Apostolic Blessing.
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