Sir Tony delivered a eulogy at Saint George’s funeral…
Oh wait, that’s right. Tony was never knighted because that republican, Malcolm Turnbull ruined everything by abolishing the knighthoods which were the ‘crowning’ glory of Abbott’s legacy. I’m sure Tony had it all planned out. After Sir Prince Phil, Duck of Edinburgh, we’d have these in the following years:
- Sir John Howard and Dame Gina Rinehart
- Sir Rupert Murdoch and Sir Cardinal George Pell
- Sir Andrew Bolt and Dame Peta Credlin
- Sir Alan Jones and Sir Tony Abbott
After all, it would be rude to knight yourself in your first term of office and you can say a lot of things about Tony, but he certainly knows his place.
Anyway, Sir Tony delivered a eulogy at George’s funeral and it certainly made me think again about the misplaced hierarchy in the Catholic Church. Not only, it seems, should George Pell have been Pope but I suspect that he’s replaced St Peter in Heaven and Jesus’ place at God’s right hand is looking a little shaky.
Pell, according to Tones, was the greatest man he ever knew and was the victim of a modern-day crucifixion because not only should he not have been found guilty, it was outrageous that he was even investigated. After all, he never took an interest in investigating priests accused of wrongdoing, so why should anyone investigate him. George, according to Tony, was a saint and there should be (and this is a direct quote in case you think I’m going too far):
“There should be Pell study courses, Pell spirituality courses, Pell lectures, Pell high schools, and Pell university colleges. Just as there are for the other saints.”
Of course, George’s brother, David also got to say a few words among which was the wonderful bit of advice:
“We implore you to rid yourself of the woke algorithm of mistruths, half-truths, and outright lies that have are being perpetrated. Do your research.”
Ok, I could spend many hours trying to unpack that and I’d still be unsure what exactly a woke algorithm is. After all, by definition, an algorithm is a set of rules in a calculation which isn’t something we’d think of as sentient and therefore it can’t be woke, any more than George can.
And putting George to one side, which is probably a good thing, the narrative from his friends and family seems to be that he was a great man, intelligent, aware and astute, but completely unaware of the priests committing deplorable acts on children. It wasn’t this that made the left persecute him but his stance on a range of issues and the fact that he wasn’t afraid to take them on over climate change which led to the police, the DPP and the jury, as well as the accuser all conspire to have him wrongfully charged and convicted and the High Court, not only decided that this decision should have given a reasonable doubt but that they completely exonerated him and, unlike most verdicts announced that he definitely didn’t do anything wrong.
The problem is that it’s the whole system that’s at fault and, whatever you conclude about Saint George, it’s the system that fails the vulnerable. In spite of the sycophantic ramblings of. Tony Abbott, in the end, Pell wasn’t that important a figure in the big picture. Oh sure, he got to be the “third most important Catholic” and that should warm the cockles of our Australian hearts because we should be patriotic and admire such an achievement, even through I doubt that many people could tell us who slipped into number 3 with the passing of Pell.
Just like Robodebt, it’s not the fact that they thought they were clever enough to get away with their unethical conduct and not get caught; it’s the belief that even if they were caught, they were powerful enough that it would all just blow over with no consequences. When the Royal Commission gave its scathing assessment of Pell’s behaviour, so many people shrugged and said that’s just one opinion.
But instead of holding the powerful to account, large sections of the media join with them in attacking these “woke” dragons who are destroying society with their removal of Charles from the $5 note. Don’t they know that the monarch has always been on our five dollar note going right back to Captain Cook’s circumnavigation of Australia (I know, ok, I’m quoting Scotty!)
It’s not that we’re racist, we just think that our $5 should have something uniquely Australian like our King on it.
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If people like Abbott, Howard and the rest wanted to come to my funeral I’d know for sure that I had buggered up my life completely.
Rossleigh, apologies,
In your list right up front, shouldn’t it be spelled C-U-R?
John: “buggered up” or “got buggered”? Pardon the naughtiness. 🙂
Lest we forget :
Cardinal-Pell-meme
Smellie Pellie and his mindless acolytes left everything to be desired as they lived a contrary-Christian life.
Smellie Pellie Rot in Hellie.
Cardinal George,Sir and S’aint Pell of the” no interest to me”,represents comprehensively why former catholics are stampeding for the exit.Well done, George,well done the Mad Monk,well done the Lying Rodent,the latter pair being largely responsible for a similar stampede from the so called Liberal party.What a gob smacking line up of anachronistic dreck.For what it’s worth(nothing),David Pell was an accountant who couldn’t tell an algorithm from an amoeba,according to many of his former clients.Wishing everyone (except the lunatic fringe dwellers on the right) a satisfactory Saturday.
The Man of the Cloth who rose very high in the hierarchy of the Church. Though the 3 basics of the Church are supposedly Faith, Hope, & Charity I may not have ecclesiastical teachings, but the Cardinal seemed severely lacking in all 3, given he was pretty smart and had no trouble outflanking his rivals and adversaries to achieve the heights he did. One only has to look to Father Bob for an example of Faith, Hope & Charity, without the silken luxuries etc and nothing to show for the office, like what has he ever achieved whilst in office? apart from a comparison to Nelson Mandela, Whilst Father Bob was evicted from his parish. Must be a new Dogma of Neoliberalism in the Church.
Well as a politician and a power-mad narcissist, Pell was indeed ‘pretty smart’. As a pastor, which after all was Pell’s job, he hadn’t a clue and wasn’t interested. I heard him preach on two occasions, at Masses for special occasions. The most basic requirement for a homilist is to know the audience you’re addressing, and to speak to that audience. Both times I got the strong impression that Pell didn’t have any idea to whom he was speaking, and simply didn’t care. There was a lot of religious stuff that he seemed to accept as intellectual concepts, but faith is much more than that and I don’t think Pell truly believed any of it. His passion was to seek acclaim by the wealthy and powerful. The message of the Gospel meant nothing to him.
Pell’s legacy will be his deathless statement ‘It was a sad story but not much concern to me’. That sums him up in one short sentence.