Cardinal George Pell, whose death shocked the Catholic world two years ago, is remembered by his biographer for his faithfulness under pressure, his reform efforts, and for being “a builder” — both at the Vatican and in the two archdioceses he led. Source: CNA.
“He had a reformist mindset … Pell would look around and think, ‘Well, what is to be done? What can we do? … Why are so many children and teenagers leaving Catholic schools not practicing [the faith]? … Why are vocations down so badly?’ He was, I’d say, a practical reformer,” Tess Livingstone told CNA.
An Australian journalist and author, Ms Livingstone’s biography on the formidable cardinal was published by Ignatius Press on November 4, 2024.
Speaking in Rome on Friday, the second anniversary of Cardinal Pell’s death from cardiac arrest following a hip replacement surgery at age 81, Ms Livingstone listed the many institutions and spaces Cardinal Pell helped build during his nearly six decades of service to the Church.
The author said that to characterise the cardinal as unpopular or disliked in his own land “is too much of a generalisation. Many, many people recognise his qualities.”
“He was a very articulate contributor to the public square in Australia,” Ms Livingstone said.
George Cardinal Pell: Pax Invictis (Peace to the Unconquered), builds on a 2002 biography by Ms Livingstone to tell the complete story of the cardinal’s life from his childhood in Ballarat, Victoria, to his leadership of Australia’s two most important archdioceses, to his reform of Vatican finances in Rome.
The biography also addresses his final years, including what critics have called an unjust trial and conviction followed by 13 months in prison including eight months in solitary confinement — along with what advocates describe as an unnecessarily cruel ban on offering Mass — before he was vindicated when Australia’s highest court quashed the conviction on April 7, 2020.
Ms Livingstone said she thinks the prelate will also be remembered for how he handled the incredible challenge of over a year in prison, most of it in solitary confinement, while maintaining his faith and his poise.
“He was a model of grace under pressure and faith under pressure,” she said. “He certainly drew on his reserves of faith” and his vast knowledge — acquired through decades of voracious reading — of saints, Scripture, and thinkers.
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‘He was a builder’: Cardinal George Pell remembered by biographer 2 years after death (By Hannah Brockhaus, CNA)
