The Devil pounced on Cardinal Pell last week and dragged him down to the infernal level prepared for him by his own actions.
Except of course that’s just a picturesque metaphor. A modern Dante might place the Cardinal in the Eighth Circle because he was a hypocrite and a thief, but the judgement has no power over him.
A hypocrite? He advocated spiritual values, while ensuring that the material wellbeing of the Catholic Church would be preserved by not actually exercising those values. Moreover, the same attention to the Church’s material interests gave him a career path that lifted him high into the Vatican itself.
A thief? He didn’t steal money or goods. Instead he stole the joy and innocence of the children entrusted to him; he stole their very future, which is to say, he stole everything. Whether or not he thrust his own greasy body at them, he enabled other fiendish priests to do so, and protected those rock spiders and his precious Church in order that they could do so again and again.
The higher one rises in a hierarchical regime the less likely it is that you will believe the ideology of the group. If you have risen to great eminence there will have been victims along the way, defeated enemies, deceived friends, rewritten histories. Hard to believe the hymnbook when you’ve fought your rivals beak and claw. The top of the tree rarely has room for genuine songbirds; it is a place for the clash of vultures.
Like most people familiar with George Pell’s career, I would have been content to note his death with civility, while refusing to celebrate a life so utterly devoid of human decency. There was no need to dance on his grave.
But the trolls and orcs are not satisfied with the respect of silence. Those with a secret paedophile itch, or those who will support a right-wing opinion even if it proceeds from the anus of a diseased demon, now claim Pell as a saint crucified by anti-Christian forces.
Against their absurd sanctification are the five years’ work of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, and the findings that Pell’s role in the cover-up of ecclesiastic crimes against children is not a matter of dispute. In the high court case he was eventually given the benefit of the doubt on charges of actual molestation because there was no circumstantial evidence and only disputed testimonies.
As for his definitive actions: turning a deaf ear to suffering, exacerbating harm by denying it, putting victims through labyrinthine legal hoops – these are not the usual marks of sainthood. All that Pell can claim from his sojourn on earth is that he saved the Church a lot of money.
The hagiographers busy ignoring the 17 volumes of the Royal Commission in favour of an air-brushed Cardinal Pell with a shiny plastic halo will fall silent soon enough. It is unfortunate that their noisy lies once more disrupt the recovery of his many victims.
Evil he was and evermore shall be! 🔥
Right wing Pell belongs in Hell.
“Pell goes to Hell” should be the front page of every tabloid paper everywhere
“[…] turning a deaf ear to suffering, exacerbating harm by denying it, putting victims through labyrinthine legal hoops – these are not the usual marks of sainthood.”
Perhaps so, David, but they ARE the marks of organised religion struggling for 21st-century relevance and hoping to deny the damage caused by its (in)actions.
I knew Pell personally (though not intimately, thank the gods!); he was a sociopath. He may have had a brilliant mind, but he had neither soul nor heart.
Good riddance indeed!
Pell was the fall-guy for all the evils of the world-wide Catholic church.
But to pillory just one man for all this is pure lynch-mob ‘cancel culture’ at its worst.
Certainly, this was certainly the worst pile-on and perversion of justice since the infamous Lindy Chamberlain Case around1980.
Pell’s charging and slandering were carefully & specifically planned by Left-leaning politicians and media, leading the Supreme Court to unanimously throw out these ‘false witness’ charges that were acquiesced by lower courts.
The Vic police, Dan Andrews, the ABC and some locals (commenting here) should hang their heads in shame by being so triumphant and biased over any death, irrespective of the person.
Pell was the fall-guy for all the evils of the world-wide Catholic church.
But to pillory just one man for all this is pure lynch-mob ‘cancel culture’ at its worst.
Certainly, this was worst pile-on and perversion of justice since the Lindy Chamberlain case in 1981.
Pell’s charging and slandering were carefully & specifically planned by Left-leaning politicians and media, leading the Supreme Court to unanimously throw out these ‘false witness’ charges, after being acquiesced by lower courts.
The Victoria police, Dan Andrews, the ABC were all involved right up to their necks as leaders of this braying, populist Mob.
Perhaps his exoneration still rankles with some, who thought they had won a great victory – then had it snatched from them at the last moment, hence all this rudeness and bitterness?
If so, I am really sorry for you.
“Good riddance indeed!” Seconded!
Rob L, “Pell was the fall-guy for all the evils of the world-wide Catholic church.”, yes the Supreme Court overturned Pell’s conviction for sexually abusing choirboys but The Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse told us plenty about Pell.
Pell, some sort of a fall-guy you want us to believe, go back and look at the what the Royal Commission found in relation to Pell.
The victims of sexual abuse, and their surviving loved ones bear the cost of the abuse, the silence and the coverup and somehow you can come up…. “Perhaps his exoneration still rankles with some, who thought they had won a great victory – then had it snatched from them at the last moment, hence all this rudeness and bitterness?”…there are no words.
J – I think you missed my point again over pile-on victimisation.
Sadly.
Dude, the last Pope didn’t step down as Pope. It’s an interesting story involving Pell.
After reading that the 1973 year 4 class, at the Ballarat school had 12 out of 33 children go on to commit suicide, after what the Catholic church allowed to happen to them, I just cannot fathom how anyone could have anything to do with this church. That was just one of thousands of schools world wide when this systematic abuse was orchastrated. If this were any other business other than a religious franchise it would have been prosecuted and closed down decades ago, we wonder how that can be? Last Census 40% of Australians stated NO RELIGION! We all need to weed out the branch stacking religious fundamentalist faction politicians providing the protection racket. Pell’s sycophants like Abbott ,Howard etc and their deaf, dumb and blind RWNJ media apologist propaganda units need to be called out loudly by the public on this!
Tweed, 100%.
The Abbott, Bolt, Howard and the rest of the Pell cheer squad, making plenty of noise supporting their man.
Too bad that the victims of the Catholic Church and Pell’s complicity didn’t get the same acknowledgement from the Pell fanboys.
You right that the Catholic Church should have been shutdown decades ago – industrial scale, world wide child abuse, what does it take?
Well said David. I have a lovely friend whose life has included far far too many horrors and nightmares from his childhood in a Catholic school in Ballarat. Terror for life induced by priests working (sic) under Pell in Victoria. FLICK Pell and all his brethren
David lovejoy, you are a champion. Thank you
For that . Awesome .
Not worth a reply.
By the sounds of it you are all set, ready and willing to take care of his smalls *points* DOWN THERE when it’s your time to join him!
He will be well and truly hot under the collar by then, just not for you!
Hey, did you check out the files the FBI just declassified on Martin Luther King? Yet the left just erected another statue to the guy regardless.
How dare you speak to me like that. You don’t know me.
And I thought you thought you knew better than (just about) everyone about not throwing stones?
But wait, look, over there! I see smoke rising! It must be pell burning!
The real question is, will the moderator allow us to write such things, or is it only OK when you guys type such thing? Turn the other cheek Marion, I’m sure rando-bot here has had all its jabs. just wait it out.
Excellent comment thanks David
I was astonished that 2 former Prime Ministers Howard and Abbot had good things to say about Pell also Andrew Bolt on Sky TV Pell was at the center of a lot of child sex abuse it seems to have gone on all around him. If he was a decent human he would have involved the police immediately Albo’s reaction has been very weak
Many thanks Lefty for your honest expose of Pell .
I could never use the words you have for a person who dies. Shame on you!
I could very easily, petal. Sweetheart, you need to get out more. It’s Bex and a “liar” down there for you. 🙂
They are never interested in the further information that completely changes the narrative. Never try to blow the whistle on your boss when he has 1 billion followers.
Leave the judging to God. Jesus said once “Let you who is without sin throw the first stone”. Well worth a thought I think.
You actually had a think, I mean a thought????
I suppose it’s a start.
Yes, your opposition thinks for themselves random sheeple #5. Shocking and probably phobic in some way. Take an extra pill and don’t forget you booster jab.
Once I’m gone I will choose to wander around ‘down under’. Pell needs by far more than a back-hander.
Time for deliverance you brute!
He was unaninmously aqquited by our nations highest court!!