ROME — Pope Francis has praised the late Cardinal George Pell, with whom he had many differences, saying the Australian prelate followed Jesus “unwaveringly” even in the midst of trials.
In a telegram Wednesday expressing his condolences, the pontiff said he had received the news of the death of Cardinal George Pell “with sorrow,” and praised Pell for his steadfast dedication to the Gospel.
“I offer my sincere condolences, remembering with heartfelt gratitude his consistent and committed witness, his dedication to the Gospel and to the Church, and especially his diligent collaboration with the Holy See in its recent economic reform, for which he laid the foundations with determination and wisdom,” the pope said in his message.
Francis went on to say he was offering prayers for “the repose of the soul of this faithful servant, who unwaveringly followed his Lord with perseverance even in the hour of trial, that he may be received into the joy of heaven and receive the reward of eternal peace.”
In conclusion, the pope sent his apostolic blessing to the family of the late cardinal and “to all who share in the mourning of his passing.”
In 2014, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Pell as the first prefect of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy, entrusting him with the much needed economic reform of the Vatican’s finances.
By all accounts, Pell zealously set himself to the task, but ruffled the feathers of several prominent Vatican officials in the process, and Francis himself saw to it that the cardinal was “progressively marginalized,” according to veteran Vatican journalist John Allen.
While Francis clearly soured to Pell in the intervening years, the cardinal himself made no secret of his own dissatisfaction with the present pontificate.
File/Cardinal George Pell walks onto the stage for the opening mass for World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, July 15, 2008. Pell has died Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, in Rome at age 81. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)
A memorandum widely believed to have been authored by Pell called the Francis pontificate a “disaster” and a “catastrophe” while laying out essential tasks for the next successor to Saint Peter.
The nearly 2000-word memo, signed with the pseudonym of Demos (“people,” in Greek), was circulated among the cardinals who will elect the next pope, decrying the doctrinal confusion among the faithful generated by Pope Francis’ numerous ambiguous statements.
Previously it was said: “Roma locuta. Causa finita est” (Rome has spoken, the case is closed). Today it is: “Roma loquitur. Confusio augetur” (Rome speaks and confusion increases), the memo asserted.
The text went on to criticize the silence of the papacy in the face of public rejection of key elements of the Church’s moral teaching by high-ranking prelates, combined with the pope’s heavy-handed crackdown on conservatives and liturgical traditionalists.
The document pointed to “grave failures” on the part of Pope Francis to “support human rights in Venezuela, Hong Kong, mainland China, and now in the Russian invasion,” adding that there has been “no public support for the loyal Catholics in China who have been intermittently persecuted for their loyally to the Papacy for more than 70 years.”
“The first tasks of the new pope will be to restore normality, restore doctrinal clarity in faith and morals, restore a proper respect for the law and ensure that the first criterion for the nomination of bishops is acceptance of the apostolic tradition,” the document said.
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