His Eminence George Cardinal Pell AC (born 8 June 1941), Australian clergyman, has been the Roman Catholic archbishop of Sydney since March 2001 and a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church since October 2003. As a Cardinal he is also Priest of the Church of Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello in Rome. Since his appointment he has become the best-known and most controversial Christian leader in Australia. The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established by Queen Elizabeth II on February 14, 1975 for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service. The Order includes three classes in general and military divisions, in descending order of... Jump to: navigation, search June 8 is the 159th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (160th in leap years), with 206 days remaining. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... In Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop heading a diocese of particular importance due to either its size, history, or both, called an archdiocese. ... Jump to: navigation, search Sydney is the capital city of the Australian state of New South Wales and Australias largest and oldest city (founded in 1788). ... Jump to: navigation, search 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official in the Roman Catholic Church, ranking just below the Pope and appointed by him as a member of the College of Cardinals during a consistory. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Catholic Church, known also as the Roman Catholic Church, is the Christian Church whose visible head is the Pope, currently Benedict XVI. It teaches that it is the one holy catholic and apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ, and that the sole Church of Christ... Jump to: navigation, search 2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost... Jump to: navigation, search As a noun, Christian is an appellation and moniker deriving from the appellation Christ, which many people associate exclusively with Jesus of Nazareth. ...

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Life

George Pell was born in Ballarat, Victoria, and educated at Catholic schools (Loreto Convent School and St Patrick's College) at his mother's insistence, although his father was a Protestant. He gave up a chance to play professional Australian Rules Football to become a priest. He studied for the priesthood at Corpus Christi College near Melbourne, and at Propaganda Fide College in Rome. He was ordained a priest in St Peter's Basilica on 16 December 1966 and holds a licentiate in theology from Urban University (1967), a doctorate of philosophy in church history from the University of Oxford (1971) and a master's degree in education from Monash University, Melbourne (1982). Ballarat is a city in regional Victoria, Australia, approximately 120 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, with a population of 84,000 people. ... Motto: Peace and Prosperity Other Australian states and territories Capital Melbourne Governor HE Mr John Landy Premier Steve Bracks (ALP) Area 237,629 km² (6th)  - Land 227,416 km²  - Water 10,213 km² (4. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... Jump to: navigation, search Australian Football at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. ... Interior view, with the nave of the Cattedra in the back St. ... Jump to: navigation, search December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1966 was a common year starting on Saturday (link goes to calendar) // Events January January 1 - In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. ... Jump to: navigation, search The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... Jump to: navigation, search Monash University Monash University is Australias largest university with over 55,000 students. ... Jump to: navigation, search City of Melbourne Local Government Area State Victoria Lord Mayor John So (since 2001) Area 36 km² Population (2001) 57,960 Density 1,601/km² (1999) Greater Melbourne Subdivisions Local Government Areas Area 7,694 km² (1999) Population 2001 census (2nd in Australia) 3,555,321...

After graduation Pell worked as an assistant priest in parishes around Victoria. He was Visiting Scholar at Campion Hall, Oxford University, in 1979 and at St Edmund's College, Cambridge University, in 1983. He was ordained an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Melbourne and Titular Bishop of Scala in 1987, and was appointed as seventh Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996. In March 2001, he was appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Sydney. Jump to: navigation, search This page refers to the year 1979. ... REDIRECT [1] ... Jump to: navigation, search 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Melbourne has had a Catholic Bishop since 1847 and an Archbishop since 1874. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

Pell has been a member of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace from 1990 to 1995 and again from 2002. From 1990 to 2000 he was a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In April 2002, Pope John Paul II named him President of the Vox Clara Committee to advise the Congregation for Divine Worship on English translations of liturgical texts. In December 2002, he was appointed to the Presidential Committee of the Pontifical Council for the Family, having previously served many years as a Consultor to the Council. Jump to: navigation, search For the Temptations album, see 1990 (Temptations album) MCMXC redirects here; for the Enigma album, see MCMXC a. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2002(MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search For the Temptations album, see 1990 (Temptations album) MCMXC redirects here; for the Enigma album, see MCMXC a. ... Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the year 2000. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) (Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei) is the oldest of the nine congregations of the Roman Curia. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2002(MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search Pope John Paul II (Latin: ), born Karol Józef Wojtyła (May 18, 1920 - April 2, 2005), reigned as pope of the Catholic Church for almost 27 years, from 16 October 1978 until his death, making his the third-longest pontificate in the history of the... The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (Congregatio de Cultu Divino et Disciplina Sacramentorum) is the congregation of the Roman Curia that oversees liturgical observance in the Catholic Church. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2002(MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Pell has written widely in religious and secular magazines, learned journals and newspapers in Australia and overseas and regularly speaks on television and radio. In September 1996, Oxford University Press published his Issues of Faith and Morals, written for senior secondary classes and parish groups. His other publications include The Sisters of St Joseph in Swan Hill 1922-72 (1972), Catholicism in Australia (1988), Rerum Novarum - One Hundred Years Later (1992) and Catholicism and the Architecture of Freedom (1999). Jump to: navigation, search 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Oxford University Press (OUP) is a highly-respected publishing house and a department of the University of Oxford in England. ...

Church leader

Since Pell's elevation to the See of Melbourne, and more particularly since his translation to Sydney, he has taken a high public profile on a wide range of issues. He uses the media, particularly television, with great skill.

Pell combines this sophistication with strict adherence to Catholic orthodoxy. As his rapid promotion shows, he had the full confidence of Pope John Paul II and his closest advisers such as Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI). Since the 1960s Australia has become one of the most secularised countries in the world, and Australians have become used to Christian leaders whose public utterances are confined to occasional exhortations to peace, love and charity. An Archbishop who strongly and capably expounds Catholic doctrines in matters of personal morality, and who exerts a strong top-down hierarchical discipline within the Church, has come as a shock to Australian Catholics. Jump to: navigation, search Pope John Paul II (Latin: ), born Karol Józef Wojtyła (May 18, 1920 - April 2, 2005), reigned as pope of the Catholic Church for almost 27 years, from 16 October 1978 until his death, making his the third-longest pontificate in the history of the... Jump to: navigation, search Pope Benedict XVI (Latin: ; born April 16, 1927, as Joseph Alois Ratzinger in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, Germany) is the 265th reigning pope, the head of the Roman Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City. ...

Pell has said on many occasions that he sees his mission as being to bring the Australian Church back to discipline and conformity with Rome, and then to bring Australia back to Christianity. He sees other Christian, and even non-Christian, leaders as his allies in this mission. "The most significant religious change in Australia over the past 50 years is the increase of people without religion, now about one fifth of the population," he said in 2001. "All monotheists, Christians and Jews, Muslims and Sikhs, must labour to reverse this. We must not allow the situation to deteriorate as it had in Elijah’s time, 850 years before Christ, where monotheism was nearly swamped by the aggressive paganism of the followers of Baal." Jump to: navigation, search 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Jump to: navigation, search Monotheism (in Greek monon = single and Theos = God) is the belief in a single, universal, all-encompassing deity. ... Jump to: navigation, search Islam â–¶(?) (Arabic: الإسلام al-islām) the submission to God is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions and the worlds second-largest religion. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Golden Temple is a sacred shrine for Sikhs Sikhism (Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖੀ) is a religion based on the teachings of ten Gurus who lived primarily in 16th and 17th century India. ... Elijah (אֱלִיָּהוּ Whose/my God is the Lord, Standard Hebrew Eliyyáhu, Tiberian Hebrew ʾĔliyyāhû), also Elias (NT Greek Ἠλίας), is a prophet of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. ... Jump to: navigation, search Christ is the English representation of the Greek word Χριστός (transliterated as Khristós), which means anointed and in Latin Iesus. ... Within a Christian context, Paganism (from Latin paganus) and Heathenry are catch-all terms which have come to connote a broad set of spiritual/religious beliefs and practices of a natural religion, as opposed to the Abrahamic religions. ... Jump to: navigation, search Baal (בַּעַל / בָּעַל, Standard Hebrew Báʿal, Tiberian Hebrew Bá, i. ...

In pursuit of this objective Pell has sought to establish good relations with other Christian denominations. This is a difficult task in Sydney, which has a long tradition of sectarian hostility between Catholics and Protestants. The Sydney Anglican Church is aggressively evangelical and historically anti-Catholic, but Pell has worked co-operatively with his Anglican counterpart, Dr Peter Jensen, on political issues, while avoiding theological controversies. This is referred to in Sydney as "the ecumenism of the right." Sectarianism (or sectism) is an adherence to a particular sect or party or denomination. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Anglican Church of Australia, a member church of the Anglican Communion, was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia (renamed in 1981). ... Jump to: navigation, search The word evangelicalism usually refers to a tendency in diverse branches of Protestantism, typified by an emphasis on evangelism, a personal experience of conversion, biblically-oriented faith, and a belief in the relevance of Christian faith to cultural issues. ... The Most Rev Peter Jensen (born 11 July 1943), is the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Australia, and Metropolitan of the Province of New South Wales. ... Jump to: navigation, search The word ecumenism (also oecumenism, Å“cumenism) (IPA: ) is derived from the Greek oikoumene, which means the inhabited world. The term is usually used with regard to movements toward religious unity. ...

As a cardinal, Pell was eligible to vote (a cardinal elector) in the 2005 Papal Conclave following the death of John Paul II. Given Pell's obvious favour in Rome, there had been a little speculation in the Australian media that he had an outside chance of becoming Pope himself. Aside from one Italian source, international commentary on the papal succession did not mention Pell as a contender for the position. Pell has since been mentioned as a possible successor to Joseph Ratzinger, elected Pope Benedict XVI, as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [1]. The following were the cardinal electors in the 2005 papal conclave. ... The Papal conclave of 2005 began on April 18, 2005 and ended the next day after four ballots. ... Jump to: navigation, search Pope Benedict XVI (Latin: ; born April 16, 1927, as Joseph Alois Ratzinger in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, Germany) is the 265th reigning pope, the head of the Roman Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) (Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei) is the oldest of the nine congregations of the Roman Curia. ...

Controversies

The area in which Pell has received most publicity has been that of Catholic attitudes to sexuality, and particularly homosexuality. "Christian teaching on sexuality is only one part of the Ten Commandments, of the virtues and vices, but it is essential for human wellbeing and especially for the proper flourishing of marriages and families, for the continuity of the human race," Pell said upon becoming Archbishop of Sydney. "Any genuine religion has two important moral tasks; firstly, to present norms and ideals, goals for our striving; and secondly, to offer aids for our weakness, forgiveness and healing for every wrong doer and sinner who repents and seeks forgiveness." Jump to: navigation, search Since its coining, the term homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Ten Commandments on a monument in the grounds of the Texas State Capitol This 1768 parchment (612x502 mm) by Jekuthiel Sofer emulated 1675 decalogue at the Esnoga synagogue of Amsterdam The Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, is a list of religious and moral imperatives which, according...

Pell has been outspoken on pre-marital sex, abortion and contraception, as well as subjects such as euthanasia and drug use. He supports the Pope's view that issues such as clerical celibacy and the ordination of women cannot be discussed within the Church. His most controversial act as Archbishop of Sydney has been refusing the sacraments to known or self-declared homosexuals. "Anybody who is sinning seriously should not go to communion," he said in 2001. "So a gay person who has repented, or a gay person who is not active, is more than welcome to communion." Activists of the Rainbow Sash movement of self-declared gay and lesbian Catholics have conducted a running battle with Pell, appearing at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney wearing rainbow sashes and requesting the sacraments, which Pell has steadfastly refused. In a city which hosts the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and has become one of the world's major gay cultural centres, this has ensured Pell continuous and mostly hostile media attention. Jump to: navigation, search Euthanasia (Greek: ευθανασία - ευ good, θανατος death) is the practice of killing a person or animal, in a painless or minimally painful way, for merciful reasons, usually to end their suffering. ... Recreational drug use is the use of psychoactive drugs for recreational rather than medical or spiritual purposes, although the distinction is not always clear. ... An oath of clerical celibacy is the promise of a religious or clerical official to remain unmarried, or not to remarry. ... Jump to: navigation, search There are a variety of positions on the ordination of women among different religions, sects and denominations within each religion. ... A sacrament is a Christian rite that mediates divine grace. ... Jump to: navigation, search Since its coining, the term homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ... Sin has been a term most usually used in a religious context, and today describes any lack of conformity to the will of God; especially, any willful disregard for the norms revealed by God is a sin. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... The Rainbow Sash movement is an activist organization created by gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Catholics who believe they should be able to receive Holy Communion. ... Jump to: navigation, search This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Jump to: navigation, search Lesbian describes a homosexual woman. ... St Marys Cathedral is the largest Roman Catholic church in Australia (and reputedly the Southern Hemisphere). ... The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is a parade and pride festival for the gay and lesbian community, held annually in Sydney, Australia. ...

Pell's determination to enforce Catholic orthodoxy has made him many enemies within his own Church. "He stands for the kind of Catholicism that we saw in the Middle Ages," said Chris Sidoti, a "progressive" Catholic and formerly Australia's Human Rights Commissioiner. "He is totally centred around the hierarchy, and dismissive of alternative views." Pell's defenders say that his positions are fully in line with those of the Pope and of Catholic teaching, and that it is his critics who are deviating from the Catholic view of the world. They also defend Pell against the charge that Pell is an extreme political conservative. They point out that he has condemned what he calls the "callousness" of unrestrained capitalism, has criticised the conservative government of John Howard for its hard-line policy of rejecting asylum seekers, and supported the 1999 referendum on whether Australia should become a republic. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Jump to: navigation, search In common usage capitalism refers to an economic system in which all or most of the means of production are privately owned and operated and where the investment of capital, and the production, distribution and prices of commodities (goods and services) are determined mainly in a... Jump to: navigation, search John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939), Australian politician and 25th Prime Minister of Australia, came to office on 11 March 1996, and gained re-election in 1998, 2001 and 2004. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1999(MCMXCIX) is a common year starting on Friday Anno Domini (or the Current Era), and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Jump to: navigation, search A referendum (plural: referendums or referenda) or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ...

Recent embarrassments

In June 2002 Pell was accused of having sexually abused a 12-year-old boy at a Catholic youth camp in 1961, when he was a seminarian. He "stood aside" (but did not resign) as Archbishop as soon as the allegations were made public (but some weeks after the Church became aware of them). He vehemently denied all the accusations. Since the accuser declined to make a formal statement to the police, the Archdiocese of Sydney appointed Alec Southwell, a former judge and not a Catholic, to conduct an enquiry. In October Southwell found that the allegations could not be sustained, reflecting the general view in the media that the allegations, made by a man with a long criminal history, lacked credibility. Jump to: navigation, search 2002(MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1961 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The enquiry, however, provided an opportunity to air allegations that Pell, along with other Church leaders both Catholic and Protestant, had sought to cover up past allegations of paedophilia and sexual exploitation by clergy. It was recalled that Pell had sought to protect a convicted paedophile priest, Father Gerald Ridsdale, and had given evidence in support of Ridsdale at the priest's trial in 1993. His observation only a month before the allegations became public that "Abortion is a worse moral scandal than priests sexually abusing young people" provided much ammunition to those who said he had sought to deny and to minimise the importance of clerical sexual abuse. Jump to: navigation, search Un précepteur et son élève, Claude Lefevbre Pedophilia (American English), pædophilia/paedophilia (Commonwealth English), is the paraphilia of being sexually attracted primarily or exclusively to prepubescent children. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1993 (MCMXCIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

In January 2004 Pell was confronted by an open letter published in the press by his cousin Monica Hingston, a former nun who has lived in a lesbian relationship for 19 years. Hingston said that she had twice sent the letter to Pell privately, but had received no reply. She had written the letter after the Vatican reaffirmed the Catholic teaching that practising homosexuals were "seriously depraved". She challenged Pell to "look her in the eye" and call her "corrupt, debased, vicious, vile, wicked, degenerate" - words she says are synonyms for depraved. "To read that the Vatican has declared us to be 'seriously depraved persons' has appalled and angered me," she wrote. Jump to: navigation, search 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search In general, a nun is a female ascetic who chooses to voluntarily leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent. ...

In response Pell issued a statement saying: "The Church's views are well known and will not change. I support them. In these situations the first 11 verses of Chapter 8 of St John's Gospel give food for thought. I wish Monica well and acknowledge the contribution she has made. I continue to regret the path she has chosen." The passage referred to by Pell is the account of the woman taken in adultery, where Jesus said "let him who is without sin cast the first stone", but also tells the woman, "go and sin no more".

Hingston said she was "not surprised" at Pell's response, because he "had to follow the Vatican line," but it saddened her. "I wanted him to make some statement about who I am as a person to him," she said. "It's very disappointing that I got no response other than scripture." She found the official Catholic teaching "insulting and degrading," she said.

External links

• Sydney Catholic Archdiocese website
• Rainbow Sash Movement
• Pell cleared of abuse charges
• Text of Monica Hingston letter to Pell