Quote of the Day

George Pell was one of the most conservative figures of his generation in the global church. He was a staunch defender of [so-called] traditional positions on morality and also on questions of liturgy and, of course, that won him many admirers in the Church and just as many opponents. . . . [There are also] many people who hold him at least indirectly responsible for many of the problems which have assailed the Australian church over the past 20 or 30 years, and who wish that he’d been called to account in a fuller way for some of his decisions as Archbishop.

– Dr. Miles Pattenden,
Senior Research Fellow, Australian Catholic University
Quoted in Greta Stonehouse and Bridget Murphy’s article,
“Cardinal George Pell Is Dead – What His Legacy Is
Depends On Who You Talk To”
ABC News
January 11, 2023

Related Off-site Links:
Australian Cardinal Pell, Whose Child Sex Abuse Convictions Were Overturned, Dies at 81 – Rod McGuirk (National Catholic Reporter, January 10, 2023).
How George Pell Rose From Country Victoria to Become Australia’s Most Senior Catholic – ABC News (January 11, 2023).

UPDATE: As Cardinal Pell Is Buried, He’s Acclaimed a “Saint for Our Times,” While Abuse Survivors and LGBTQ People Protest – William D. Lindsey (Bilgrimage, February 2, 2023).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• The Two-Sided Catholic Crisis
• Chris McGillion Responds to the “Exacerbating” Actions of Cardinal Pell
• Responding to Cardinal Pell

Image: Kristen Solberg.