Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic cleric Cardinal George Pell died in Rome on Tuesday night, following heart complications that occurred during hip surgery.
His death was confirmed by Anthony Fisher, the current archbishop of Sydney who noted his “deep sadness” at confirming that Pell had passed away. “This news comes as a great shock to all of us.
A former archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney, Pell stood trial for child abuse offenses in Australia in 2017, and was later convicted of molesting two teenage choirboys during his time as archbishop of Melbourne in 1996. The conviction was overturned by the High Court in 2020, with Pell always maintaining his innocence.
Pell remains a polarising figure in Australia, despite returning to Rome after his convictions was squashed. He had been responsible for establishing the controversial’ Melbourne Response’ during his time as archbishop of Melbourne — a system of capped compensation payouts that saw victims signing away rights to future claims, to help support the church in responding to a wave of clergy abuse allegations.
In 2015, a report into the Melbourne Response was released by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It found that the response was “not sufficiently independent of the archdiocese of Melbourne.”
Prior to standing trial, Pell was the Vatican’s top finance minister. He returned to Rome on being released from prison in 2020.
Pell had attended the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI just days ago.
“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,” Fisher said in his statement.
Born in Ballarat in 1941, Pell was ordained in 1966 when he was 25. He was named as a cardinal in 2003, having served as a bishop since 1987.
According to reports, Pell was in hospital for a hip replacement and had been speaking with the anesthetist before he went into sudden cardiac arrest. He was known to have a history of heart disease and received a pacemaker a decade ago.
Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli described Pell as a “significant and influential church leader” and also expressed his sadness at learning about his death.
He credited Pell for providing “strong leadership in the Catholic faith with good governance, before being transferred to Sydney and then to Rome.”
Joe Hockey has also expressed his sadness, describing Pell as a “man of deep faith and great integrity” and “proudly Australian.”
Neither Prime Minister Anthony Albanese or Opposition leader Peter Dutton had commented on Pell’s death at the time of publishing.