Cardinal Pell: My time in jail ‘was a gift and a grace’ By Dorothy Cummings McLean for Life Site News
‘I’d have to hasten to add that I still regret that it happened,’ the Australian cardinal continued.
An exonerated Australian cardinal stated today that he accepted his time in prison as “a gift and a grace.”
Cardinal George Pell, who was imprisoned on charges of child sexual abuse later struck down by Australia’s highest court, gave an online press conference today to answer questions about his new book. Prison Journal: Volume I, with an introduction by George Weigel, was published by Ignatius Press.
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“God writes straight with crooked lines, and given that I was sentenced to jail, I do regard it as a gift and a grace,” Pell told reporters.
“I’d have to hasten to add that I still regret that it happened,” he continued.
“I wouldn’t have chosen it, but there I was and, please God, I did my Christian duty while I was in jail.”
In the hour-long press conference, the Australian cardinal said that “many, many good things” happened to him during his imprisonment. They included “the wonderful support” of his family and friends; the “decency and professionalism” of all the warders, some of whom were quite friendly; the letters he received, including from other prisoners; “intellectually stimulating” journal articles people sent him; and an excellent prison chaplain.
“I was impressed by the goodness of a lot of people,” Pell said.
The cardinal received good wishes even from his next-cell neighbor.
“The fellow who was in the cell next to me — he was a bit off his head, he’s a mass murderer. But on the morning that I was going for my appeal, he shouted out, wished me well,” the cardinal recalled.
“A very small thing, but it’s something for which I was very, very grateful.”
