But the dark cloud this case has cast over the Vatican and the Catholic Church in general fails to capture the political and institutional significance of Pell’s downfall in Australia.
This is because of the powerful historical role the Catholic Church has had in Australia. In the past this has not just covered faith, but the social, educational and political life of Catholics, although this influence declined dramatically in recent decades, in large part due to revulsion over the exposure of sexual abuse within the Church.
Influence in high places
During this period, however, Cardinal George Pell has been the most public and influential face of Catholicism in Australia. In matters of politics, Catholic liturgy, interpretation of Church teaching, sexual preference, and the Church’s wider educational role, he has been a staunch conservative.
As a priest, bishop, archbishop and cardinal, Pell has had a uniquely high profile in preaching to his Catholic flock about the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, and in refusing Mass to declared homosexuals.
He also enjoyed influence in high places. Former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott told me in 2012 he had “enormous respect and affection for George Pell” and “I regard him as a person of significance and influence in my life”.
In an exchange with the ABC’s Tony Jones during the 2004 election campaign, Mr Abbott acknowledged he had met Pell just before the then head of the Catholic Church in Australia released a statement that was sharply critical of Labor’s education policy.
“Cardinal Pell is one of the greatest churchmen that Australia has seen,” Mr Abbott said at the time.
In 2017, prominent conservative Catholic columnist Miranda Devine accused the Victoria police of laying the charges against Archbishop Pell as a distraction.
“Victoria police chief Graham Ashton desperate for a distraction from the crime epidemic he’s incapable of stopping #HuntingCatholics,” Devine tweeted.
The Pell conviction is now on appeal.
from Just News Viral https://ift.tt/2U9UHyL
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