Active until the end

Vatican became ‘home’

CARDINAL George Pell’s final years were spent in Rome, where he stayed active in Vatican affairs despite lacking a formal ministry.

After his release from prison in April 2020, Cardinal Pell spent several quiet months at the Seminary of the Good Shepherd in Sydney’s Homebush, before returning to Rome that September.

The intention was to stay just a few months, packing up his Vatican apartment then flying back to Sydney. But he never returned. According to a report in the Jesuit publication America Magazine, Vatican officials and friends urged him to stay “for his own sake, for the sake of his family, for the sake of the church”.

Cardinal Pell was received by Pope Francis and oversaw the publication of the three volumes of his Prison Journal, which were released in December 2020, May 2021 and November 2021 respectively.

He never resumed the roles he had before his trial, as prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy and a member of the Council of Cardinal Advisers.

But he remained active, travelling to the US in November 2021 and celebrating mass at a meeting of Catholic medical professionals in Arizona.

Pell remained Australia’s key influence in the Vatican, and was deeply concerned about the successor to Pope Francis. While he would have been unable to vote at a future conclave because of his age, Pell was working behind the scenes to pave the way for the next pope. Sources say he was influential in getting Francis elected which ultimately got him a seat at the table as one of the Pope’s key advisers.

Pell continued to comment on a range of church issues, raising concerns last May about the “somewhat incomplete” evidence presented by his former Vatican rival, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, at a court hearing over embezzlement and fraud charges. Among other charges, Becciu (who had already been defrocked) was alleged to have moved large sums of money to Australian accounts during Cardinal Pell’s trial. Lawyers for Becciu said late last year “he strongly asserts his innocence” and was ready to clarify his position.

Cardinal Pell made a number of statements upon the recent death of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, describing him as a “friend” and expressing his gratitude for Benedict’s trip to Sydney in 2008 for World Youth Day celebrations.

Benedict and Pope JohnPaul II “represent an essential strain in Catholicity that is vital for our health,” Cardinal Pell said just over a week ago.

Cardinal Pell looked reasonably well during TV interviews after Benedict’s death, but his health had been variable over the years.