Posted by Last volume of Cardinal Pell’s Prison Journal released — beautiful spiritual memoir
Will the grave injustice to Cardinal Pell be remedied?
November 16, 2021By RNS Press Release Distribution ServiceShareTweetShare
Last volume of Cardinal Pell’s Prison Journal released — beautiful spiritual memoir
SAN FRANCISCO — The third and final volume of Cardinal George Pell’s journal he wrote while in prison in Australia, PRISON JOURNAL, VOLUME 3: THE HIGH COURT FREES AN INNOCENT MAN (Ignatius Press), delivers a hopeful and redemptive narrative of a man who was falsely accused of child sexual abuse, incarcerated for 404 days and set free.
While readers know the ending to PRISON JOURNAL, VOLUME 3 — Cardinal Pell was freed from jail after Australia’s highest court overturned his conviction for sexual abuse — they will learn about the incredible support he received from all corners of the world, including more than 3,500 letters sent to him, how his ordeal brought many people back to their Catholic faith, and how all the forces of those who hated him and the Church he stood for ultimately lost.
George Weigel, distinguished fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, author, and commentator, wrote the afterword to PRISON JOURNAL, VOLUME 3, commending the fact that Cardinal Pell holds no grudges and has moved forward with his life post-prison, continuing to inspire others with his humble writings from his cell. But Weigel also demands to know why there has been no investigations into the Victoria justice system and the publicly funded witch hunt of Cardinal Pell by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He also demands to know “if there are links between financial corruption in Rome and the prosecution of George Pell, they should be identified, not for the sake of retribution, but for the sake of the Church’s credibility and its purification.”
PRISON JOURNAL, VOLUME 3 is filled with the cardinal’s trademark humor and wit but also his authentic relationship with Christ, his yearning to celebrate Mass and his hope for release. He writes about his thoughts on then-President Trump’s governing style ( he “is no gentleman and an unlikely champion of Christians”), his well-wishes for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as they resigned their royal duties, and his thoughts on ways the Vatican can recover from years of alienating donors.
“A window into the soul of a man enduring the crucible of imprisonment, false accusation, loss of reputation. It’s astonishing what we see through that window: not bitterness and anger, but graciousness and forgiveness of his enemies,” said Robert Barron, auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, and creator and host of the “Catholicism” film series. “Read this luminous text to see what radical surrender to Christ looks like.”
For more information, to request a media review copy or to schedule an interview with Cardinal George Pell, please contact Kevin Wandra (404-788-1276 or KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com) of Carmel Communications.