Australian Catholic Bishop Openly Slams Archbishop Pell’s Promotion to Cardinal

SYDNEY, September 29, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a shocking departure from normal decorum, the Auxiliary Bishop of Canberra has come out publicly denouncing the promotion of Sydney’s Archbishop George Pell to Cardinal. Canberra Bishop Pat Power, a bishop who has in the past had difficulty in stomaching the Church’s less politically correct stances, told ABC radio on Monday that he was disappointed with the Pope’s selection.  “But in terms of what it means for the church, I think it further shows the church to be representing many elements that I think are not doing the church very much good at the moment,” he said.  Using jargon especially employed by Church dissidents bishop Powers said, “I suppose what concerns me is that many of the values that I think are dear to Australian Catholics – such as the dignity of the human person, the primacy of conscience, the theology of communion, the need for dialogue in our church, reading the signs of the times – I don’t think that they’re values that are particularly clearly enunciated by Archbishop Pell.”  He concluded, “I think for that reason, many people will be disappointed the church is going further in that direction.”  The media both in Australia and worldwide have been relentless in criticizing Archbishop Pell, principally for his unapologetic stand against abortion.  Some of the most negative press he received was when he addressed crowds of youth at World Youth Day events in Toronto in 2002.  Archbishop Pell enraged some reporters noting that Jesus warns of punishment for sins such as premarital sex and abortion.  “Jesus offers punishment and consequences. It’s right through the Gospels. . It’s important for you to defend Catholic tradition as coming to us from Christ and the apostles . We are not free to decide for ourselves what is right and wrong. Our conscience can be wrong,” taught the Cardinal.  While the teachings may have been unsettling to reporters, and perhaps to Bishop Power, the youth jumped to their feet to give the Archbishop a standing ovation.  See the coverage of Bishop Power’s remarks:  https://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1274&storyid=260072