Quarterly Essay 51 The Prince

Faith, Abuse and George Pell

David Marr

• Publisher: Quarterly Essay
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9781863956161
• eBook ISBN:
  9781922231154
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations
• Index: Social Sciences

The leading Catholic in the nation and spiritual adviser to Tony Abbott, Cardinal George Pell has played a key role in the greatest challenge to face his church for centuries: the scandal of child sex abuse by priests.In The Prince, David Marr investigates the man and his career: how did he rise through the ranks? What does he stand for? How does he wield his authority? How much has he shaped his church and Australia? How has he handled the scandal?Marr reveals a cleric at ease with power and aggressive in asserting the prerogatives of the Vatican. His account of Pell's career focuses on his response as a man, a priest, an archbishop and prince of the church to the scandal that has engulfed the Catholic world in the last thirty years. This is the story of a cleric slow to see what was happening around him; torn by the contest between his church and its victims; and slow to realise that the Catholic Church cannot, in the end, escape secular scrutiny. The Prince is an arresting portrait of faith, loyalty and ambition, set against a backdrop of terrible suffering and an ancient institution in turmoil. "He knows children have been wrecked. He apologises again and again. He even sees that the hostility of the press he so deplores has helped the church face the scandal. What he doesn't get is the hostility to the church. Whatever else he believes in, Pell has profound faith in the Catholic Church. He guards it with his life. Nations come and go but the church remains." David Marr, The Prince

SOURCES

George Pell would not be interviewed for this essay. I thank his office for supplying me with documents. His biographer, Tess Livingstone, was his friendly advocate in my workroom. I had her George Pell by my side throughout. My colleagues in the media had been reporting Pell for over twenty years before I tried to come to grips with him. To them I have an immeasurable debt which I have tried to repay in the text and in the list of sources below. Readers will see how often I cite the Age: Pell was one of that paper’s great subjects. My thanks to those who spoke to me on and off the record about this man and their dealings with him. Journalists know few things more inspiring than the patience of those who are willing to tell painful stories all over again. A young Melbourne lawyer, Russell Marks, was my researcher. He was a lucky find and the essay is richer for his extraordinary energy and sharp eyes.

“I don’t think”: Pell to the press conference on 13 November 2012. All quotes are from a transcript of the conference supplied by Pell’s office. The audio of the conference can be found at australianpolitics.com/2012/11/13/george-pell-press-conference.html.

“It is not at all”: Pell, Courier-Mail, 17 April 2002, p. 1.

“Ireland is not Australia”: Pell, Sydney Morning Herald, 22 May 2009, p. 3.

“The revelations of the Cloyne report”: Enda Kenny, 20 July 2011, www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-14224199.

“There is a strong public interest”: Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children, reported in the Age, 1 March 2012, p. 6.

“It would appear”: Carson, Age, 13 April 2012, p. 1.

“proactively seek” and “Victoria Police has”: Submission of Victoria Police to the Parliamentary Inquiry on the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and other Non-Government Organisations, pp. 9 and 4. www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/fcdc/inquiries/57th/Child_Abuse_Inquiry/Submissions/Victoria_Police2.pdf.

“I have investigated”: Fox, Newcastle Herald, 8 November 2012, p. 11.

“I think it needs”: Pell, Australian, 12 November 2012, p. 2.

“an avalanche” and “Everyone was”: Sydney Morning Herald, 14 November 2012, p. 5.

“Wherever abuse”: Abbott, 12 November 2012, www.tonyabbott.com.au/LatestNews/PressReleases/tabid/86/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/8968/The-sexual-abuse-of-children.aspx.

“I will be recommending”: Gillard, 12 November 2012, parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22media%2Fpressrel%2F2042400%22.

“The Catholic bishops”: Pell’s opening statement to the press conference, 13 November 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNnplUDzSZw. Otherwise, transcript as provided by Pell’s office. The conference was also reported on 7.30, www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2012/s3632078.htm, and the Sydney Morning Herald, 14 November 2012, p. 4.

“I struggle to understand”: O’Farrell, 13 November 2012, www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA20121113029?open&refNavID=HA8_1.

“Everyone has to obey”: Abbott, 14 November 2012, www.tonyabbott.com.au/LatestNews/InterviewTranscripts/tabid/85/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/8970/Joint-Doorstop-Interview-Brisbane.aspx.

Fairfax/Nielsen poll: Sydney Morning Herald, 19 November 2012, p. 1.

“This royal commission”: Gillard, 26 June 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCJ_aavenyo.

“She was a woman”: Pell, Be Not Afraid: Collected Writings, Duffy & Snellgrove, Sydney, 2004, p. 278.

“As a teenager”: Age, 26 February 1998, p. 17.

“reasonably bright”: Molony, preparation notes for “George Pell,” Compass, ABC TV, 27 February 2000.

“I feared” and “no serious romances”: Tess Livingstone, George Pell, Duffy & Snellgrove, Sydney, 2002, p. 19.

“He is a guy”: Scarlett, preparation notes for “George Pell,” Compass, ABC TV, 27 February 2000.

“He would grab”: Scott, statement to the National Committee for Professional Standards, reported in the Age, 21 August 2002, p. 1.

“fuck off”: Scott, in A.J. Southwell QC, Report of an Inquiry into an Allegation of Sexual Abuse against Archbishop Pell, 2002, p. 3.

“a big bastard”: Southwell, p. 10.

“the same face”: Southwell, p. 4.

“The allegations”: Herald Sun, 21 August 2002, p. 1.

“I will stand”: Scott, Age, 24 August 2002, p. 5.

“gave the impression” and “not satisfied”: Southwell, p. 15.

“father and friend”: Advocate, 11 June 1987, p. 7.

“deeply committed”: Livingstone, p. 47.

“I came to understand”: Australian magazine, 20 April 2002, p. 24.

“the principle” and “Within fifteen years”: B.A. Santamaria, Santamaria: A Memoir, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1997, p. 264.

“an exacting man”: Denis Ryan & Peter Hoysted, Unholy Trinity: The Hunt for the Paedophile Priest Monsignor John Day, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2013, p. 134.

“Like O’Collins”: Ryan & Hoysted, pp. 134–5.

“another Christ”: Sunday Telegraph, 14 May 2006, p. 78.

“Most of it”: Ormerod to me, 30 July 2013.

“a fear of scandal” and “Many in the church” and “With due deference”: Pell, transcript of examination by the Victorian Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations, 27 May 2013, p. 12, www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/fcdc/inquiries/57th/Child_Abuse_Inquiry/Transcripts/Catholic_Archdiocese_of_Sydney_27-May-13.pdf.

“Back in those days”: Pell, Australian, 10 November 2012, p. 1.

“He loved swimming”: Livingstone, p. 87.

“I was struck”: Conway, Age, 10 April 2001, p. 13.

“He concealed his crimes”: Pell’s submission to the Victorian inquiry, p. 9, www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/fcdc/inquir...

Table of contents

• Front cover
• QUARTERLY ESSAY 51
• Contents
• Dedication
• The Only Cab on the Rank
• Priest
• Bishop
• Archbishop
• Cardinal
• Pell’s Nod
• Sources
• Correspondence: Unfinished Business
• Contributors
• Copyright
• Subscribe