Cardinal George Pell was a significant figure in Australian public life and in the life of the Catholic Church from the time of his appointment to the episcopacy in the 1980s until his death in 2023.  His imprisonment for some 404 days for a crime he did not commit was one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in Australian legal history. His scape-goat treatment has been compared to that of Alfred Dreyfus in the period of the Third French Republic. 

As a defender of Catholic orthodoxy Pell drew opposition from liberal Catholic quarters and from anti-Christian intellectual elites, and as the Vatican’s Prefect for the Economy, he found himself in the position of having to expose and then clean up the financial corruption within the Roman Curia. Thus he was fighting wars on more than one front in more than one country. He had many enemies but he also had many friends and was revered by young Catholics on the orthodox end of the theological spectrum. 

While much has been written to vilify him in the popular press by those who opposed his ideas and while some scholars have sought to examine the R v Pell case from an emotionally detached position, this book is something different. It is a collection of memoirs by those who knew him well. It is not intended as an exercise in hagiography or apologetics, but rather it reveals dimensions of the Cardinal’s personality that never made the pages of the popular press. 

This book is a record of memories those who knew Cardinal Pell as a gift to future generations of Catholics who may find this era of history of interest. In particular, it is record for younger Catholics who come from families where their parents and grandparents supported the Cardinal.  Since the Cardinal was well known, not only in Australia, but across the entire Anglosphere, this collection of memoirs should be of broad, international interest.  In the manner of a kaleidoscope, it offers a multidimensional picture of a man who, love him or loathe him, was a passionate defender of the Catholic faith.

Among the contributors are Cardinal Gerhard Müller, George Weigel, Joanna Bogle, Andrew Bolt, Bishop Peter Elliott, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Sister Mary Grace, S.V., Canon Alexander Sherbrooke, Rev. Jerome Santamaria, and many more.

“What was he really like?’’ people ask. These remembrances answer the question. From different perspectives, it all here: his talent for talking to anyone, regardless of age or background; unwavering loyalty to Christ; his fascination with world events; insight, courage, bluntness and traces of tenderness; and the humour and wit. He was not a bull in a china shop, he told his brother cardinal and great friend, New York’s Timothy Dolan - “I’m a bloody rodeo in a china shop’’.  For those who knew George Pell these recollections stir fond memories. Others will enjoy encountering him for the first time.
—Tess Livingstone, author of George Cardinal Pell, Pax Invictis

As I read these stories of gratitude for Cardinal Pell, I felt inspired to become more a bishop with the “smell of the sheep” as Pope Francis has said. Each story recalls the heart of a pastor who noticed and remembered people, even as they paint a very colorful picture of this Churchman who was extraordinary in so many ways. Cardinal Pell was such a larger-than-life figure and he could be intimidating. But these essays reveal that what he really wanted to be was a disciple, and that he allowed even the extreme difficulties of his life to lead to deeper purity of heart. Cardinal Pell was a man deeply in love with Jesus Christ and his Church and he allowed his passion to bring him to the cross where all darkness becomes light. 
—The Most Rev. Andrew H. Cozzens, Bishop of Crookston

This series of reflections on the life and impact of George Cardinal Pell from people who knew him highlights his remarkable pastoral skills, dedication to Catholic education, and his incredible rapport with young people and families. 
     The book includes heart-warming stories about Cardinal Pell’s sense of humor, his character as a true father, lover of the family and sacrament of marriage, and his compelling yet winsome manner in standing for all that is good, true and beautiful. 
     Also featured is the drama and intricacies of his appointment by Pope Francis as the very first prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy to improve Vatican financial management, as well as the injustice surrounding the false abuse accusations against the Cardinal and his wrongful imprisonment for more than 400 days. 
     This book is a compelling read on the remarkable life of this towering figure who was misunderstood, maligned and yet was one of the most resolute defenders of the Catholic faith in our time.
—Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone 

“These memories of Cardinal Pell vividly call to mind his visits to our seminary

and how I was struck by his attentiveness to each of our seminarians, and especially

by how well the seminarians responded to him. He was a humble man of deep

charity and strength and of great wisdom and joy. He also radiated a sense of peace

that made a real impact on all those around him.”

—Very Rev. Mark Doherty, President-Rector, St. Patrick’s Seminary

and University