Fed: Polarising Cardinal Pell to take place in secret conclave

AAP General News (Australia)
04-15-2005
Fed: Polarising Cardinal Pell to take place in secret conclave

By Samantha Baden

SYDNEY, April 15 AAP - Depending on who you ask, Australian Cardinal George Pell is
either a strong leader who can unify the Catholic Church internationally or an incredibly
divisive force.

The Archbishop of Sydney became only the seventh Australian to rise to the post of
cardinal and be accepted into the pope's inner circle of close advisers in October 2003.

Now, the controversial Dr Pell is preparing to take his place in the Sistine Chapel
with 115 of the church's cardinals.

Meeting from Monday, this conclave will pick a new pope to replace Polish-born Pope
John Paul II who died on April 2 aged 84 after a 26-year reign.

For Dr Pell, it's a far cry from the teenager who signed a professional contract with
Richmond Football Club in 1959.

After a dramatic change in career direction, he turned his back on the professional
game and attended Melbourne's Corpus Christi Seminary before being ordained in 1966.

Frequently a figure of controversy, Dr Pell has been accused of driving away gay worshippers
by refusing them communion and alienating women by resisting the ordination of female
priests.

His move from Melbourne to Sydney was met with howls of protest from representatives
of both groups and his elevation to cardinal disappointed moderate followers who felt
his values were not in line with the majority of Australian Catholics.

But the cardinal attracted praise over his handling of allegations in 2002 that he
had sexually abused a Victorian boy 40 years earlier.

Dr Pell stepped aside as Archbishop of Sydney until his name was cleared by an independent
inquiry set up by the church.

The cardinal, a close friend of the late pope, was again propelled into the limelight
this week when conservative Italian newspaper Il Giornale picked him as as one of its
18 frontrunners to replace John Paul.

The national newspaper, owned by the brother of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi,
praised Dr Pell's communication skills and wide travel in a feature on its 18 papal favourites.

"The Archbishop of Sydney, George Pell, is the portrait of an outsider and punters
looking for a surprise win mustn't disregard this athletic ex-football player, a born
fighter on whom John Paul II depended a great deal and who is well regarded by bishops
the world over," the newspaper said.

But critics and friends of the 63-year-old Australian cardinal were quick to point
out that the newspaper article was published subsequently to a commitment by all cardinals
to cease any commentary on the conclave.

"I'd say that this is speculation outside the College of Cardinals because they have
now accepted they would not speak to the media between now and the commencement of the
conclave," said Bishop Julian Porteous, who is acting in Dr Pell's position while he is
in Rome.

"It's not really reflective necessarily of the view of the cardinals, it's really reflecting
the view of other people looking on from the outside."

Dr Pell was conscious of the broad issues confronting the church and would make a good
successor to John Paul.

"I certainly think that while the cardinal has been very active here in Australia ...

he also has been exercising a role at an international level in a variety of ways," Bishop
Porteous said.

"Anybody who became pope would have to be conscious of the universal church ... (and
have) a broader awareness of the needs of the church.

"Cardinal Pell has certainly been involved enough to have that - he's been involved
in a number of synods, he's been involved in a number of meetings that would have given
him a consciousness of things that are happening across the church and he's visited a
number of countries.

"He's a man who has strong leadership and I think obviously that's a very important
quality in a man who is going to be leading a church of over a billion people."

Even if he failed to land Catholicism's top job, Dr Pell could still find himself called
to Rome to take up a congregation - or area of leadership at the Vatican, Bishop Porteous
said.

"He was certainly conscious of the particular work the pope was seeking to achieve
in the church and very much a supporter of the work of the pope."

But Catholic commentator and ex-priest, Australian Paul Collins, said Dr Pell was a
long shot for the papacy because he had a reputation as a divisive force.

"The likelihood of (Dr Pell) being elected, I'd describe it as minuscule," Dr Collins said.

The conclave would not be looking to elect a "clone" of the conservative John Paul,
rather aiming for a unifying and reconciling pope - characteristics which were not attributable
to Dr Pell, he said.

"I would have thought that even in Rome they're now starting to perceive that Cardinal
Pell's reputation is a relatively divisive one," Dr Collins said.

"This is the man who describes large numbers of Catholics in Australia who see themselves
as moderately progressive, ... (as) passe.

"They're looking for a reconciler who will bring about a level of devolution of power,
of decentralisation.

"Someone who will begin to recognise that the Papacy isn't a kind of an oracle and
that the Bishop of Rome is just that, he is the Bishop of Rome and the equal to all other
Bishops."

Dr Pell himself has previously downplayed his chances.

"I wouldn't advise any of my friends to be investing too much. As I said at home, if
you've got a little bit of form on a country track it doesn't make you one of the favourites
for the Melbourne Cup," he said recently.

AAP smb/nf/lma/jlw

KEYWORD: POPE PELL (AAP NEWSFEATURE) RPT

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