Cardinal George Pell has re-emerged on to the public stage with characteristic aplomb. Just four days after his convictions for child sexual abuse offences had been unanimously quashed by the Australian High Court, he threw himself straight back into the thick of the culture wars with an engrossing interview with Andrew Bolt of Sky News Australia.
It’s clear from the interview, broadcast on 14 April, that the 78-year-old prelate intends to continue to try to influence church affairs and that he will remain a leading light among those Catholics who have set themselves against Pope Francis’ reforming agenda. On Holy Saturday the Vatican’s former treasurer sat down for a 50-minute discussion with Mr Bolt, one of Australia’s highest-profile conservative commentators and one of the cardinal’s most vocal media defenders. Egged on by Bolt, Cardinal Pell suggested that his prosecution in Australia was motivated by his enemies, in particular because of his pro-life stance and his outspoken defence of the traditional family. He even hinted it could be linked to the opposition he had stirred up trying to root out financial corruption in the Vatican. This has little currency in Rome, where the general view is that the cardinal’s worst enemy is himself.