SNAP Aotearoa Responds To Death Of George Cardinal Pell 

George Pell’s death will be a terribly trigger for many victims and survivors of Catholic clergy and religious abuse and child sexual assault, not just in Australian but also here in Aotearoa New Zealand and worldwide.

Pell was one of the world’s most widely accused clerics. At the helm of the Church in Australia when the full terror of clerical child sexual abuse came to light, he acted defensively to deny, diminish and protect the Church’s reputation and assets.

Even though he has died, his legacy of covering up abuse, and multiple accusations against him of illicit sexual acts, and the most traumatic and egregious acts of human violation, extinguishing the very life principle itself of persons whom he offended against, all live on.

Nevertheless, his death has come as a relief to many victims and survivors and their whānau across the world.

“Bloody relieved, Pell is dead,” said one survivor.

Donald McLeish, national leader of SNAP Australia and Trustee of SNAP Aotearoa New Zealand, said George Pell was “the embodiment of the church’s attitude to those sexually abused by clerics, religious brothers and sisters, and lay employees of the Catholic Church in Australia.”

Christopher Longhurst, SNAP Aotearoa national leader said, “We will not commemorate the death of someone so despised and mistrusted by so many innocent victims and survivors and their families.”

Dr Longhurst said it was disappointing to see once again church leaders eulogising a bishop who remains accused by multiple independent witnesses of not only covering up for priests sexually abusing children, but for having perpetrated abuse multiple times himself.

"The Church’s own teaching says every word or attitude of adulation is forbidden which encourages or confirms another in malicious acts and perverse conduct," Longhurst said, citing the Catholic Church's Catechism.

SNAP reported one survivor saying, “Let’s not condone wrongdoing by honouring those who enabled or concealed wrongdoing.”

Pell’s ‘modus operandi’ was to immediately dismiss the abuse, minimise the damage, and move the perpetrator on to other places where abuse continued almost unabated for years.

Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse was scathing of the Cardinal for his inaction. It recognised Pell as someone instrumental in furthering clerical child sexual abuse by adopting, even refining, the Catholic Church’s long-standing practice of secrecy and protecting the institution at all costs.

SNAP will not forget the colossal harm done Pell has done to society at large. Dr Longhurst said:

“We at SNAP firmly believe the world is a better and safer place with the absence of child sex abusers, especially those who claim to be men of God yet sexually violate little children and then construct schemes to pretend they can be responsible for solving such crimes, meanwhile crafting ways to further cover it up and shield the abusers and themselves, constantly putting the reputation of their institution before the safety and wellbeing of its members.”

Sadly Pell was never held to account in life. In death he remains accused by many despite the quashing of his conviction.

One survivor said, “Pell got away with blue murder.” Another said, “Pell was the abuse, and the abuse was Pell – and that was the whole problem.”

Another called him “a sanctimonious, lying sociopath empty of remorse, compassion, empathy, decency, and integrity when questioned about the abuse which happened under his leadership."

SNAP Aotearoa commends the Victorian Government for not holding a formal memorial to Cardinal Pell.

“Our hearts go out to all the victims and their whānau for the abuse they suffered, and for the lack of justice at the hands of Catholic Church leaders in Australia, and even at the hands of Australia’ own legal system,” Dr Longhurst said.

As a result of the news of his death, we hope more victims and survivors of faith-based abuse will come forward to New Zealand’s Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care to report their experiences of faith-based institutional abuse.

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