Cardinal George Pell has lifted the lid on his stint behind bars, revealing how his experience has shed new light on prisoners who are ‘falsely condemned’.
The 78-year-old spoke publicly for the first time since his release on Tuesday in a pre-recorded interview with Sky News Australia presenter Andrew Bolt.
The cardinal was convicted in December 2018 of five charges of child sexual abuse relating to allegations he raped a 13-year-old choirboy and molested another at St Patrick’s Cathedral in 1996.
He was acquitted by the High Court last week and released from jail after 405 days behind bars.
Speaking on his ordeal, Pell revealed his time in Barwon Prison was ‘quite atypical’, and said he got by with the support of two prisoner friends.
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Cardinal George Pell spoke publicly for the first time since his release on Tuesday in an extraordinary pre-recorded interview with Sky News Australia presenter Andrew Bolt
Pictured: Pell arrives at the Seminary Of The Good Shepherd in Sydney on April 8
At the time of his sentencing, there was speculation the cardinal would need special protection behind bars, as paedophiles and child molesters are known targets for violent inmates.
But Cardinal Pell said his case was actually a hotly debated topic with other prisoners in the jail, with some supporting him.
‘I don’t doubt that there were threats, but quite a number of prisoners said to me that it’s the only time they’ve ever heard anybody, any prisoners, taking the side of a priest who was convicted of paedophilia,’ he told Bolt.
‘I actually heard a debate from the prisoners down the other end on whether I was guilty or not. At one stage one of the prisoners said, ‘Well I’m going with him, he’s got two prime ministers supporting him.’
‘My experience was quite atypical, I only spoke at any length with four people. The three that were with me down at Barwon were very kind to me. There’s a lot of goodness in a lot of people.’
Despite being publicly vilified over a crime he didn’t commit, Cardinal Pell said he ‘never felt forsaken’ and got through his prison stint with the support of friends and family.
But he admitted he most likely would not have been able to cope as easily had he been forced to spend three or four years behind bars.
Pell (pictured leaving court last year) revealed his time in Barwon Prison was ‘quite atypical’
The cardinal said he had supporters in jail, including two friends who congratulated him when his conviction was quashed. Pictured: Barwon Prison
‘I’ve never felt forsaken, I got something like 4,000 letters. I deeply regret that my family and my close friends had to go through what they’ve done, but I got immense support,’ he added.
‘I had a daily routine. I followed the advice I had often given to priests when they’re in a bit of trouble: Keep up your prayers. Get out of bed at a good time. Eat properly. Exercise every day. Try to sleep at night.
‘I also read and wrote. A lot of good friends sent me many articles, loads of books, so I’d quite settled into the routine.’
Cardinal Pell likened his prison experience to a ‘worldly retreat’, having access to a kettle and a television set, but insisted prison was a ‘grim place.’
‘You’ve got a toilet, you’ve got a shower, a bed with a firm base and a chair. But I used to say I was up at the “Toorak” end because all us quiet people were there,’ he said, in a bizarre comparison to the affluent Melbourne suburb.
‘But the poor fellas at the other end, [were] often damaged by ice.’
Cardinal Pell said his time behind bars had also made him more aware of those who are falsely condemned, such as his jailhouse friend who was convicted of murder.
Pell told Sky News presenter Andrew Bolt he ‘never felt forsaken’ and got through his prison stint with the support of friends and family
Pope Benedict XVI with Cardinal George Pell in July 2008 at an inter-faith meeting in Sydney
‘I don’t think he is [a murderer] and one of the things I have become a bit interested in is people who are falsely condemned,’ he told Bolt.
That man, who was unnamed, was one of two friends who congratulated Pell after he learned of the High Court decision to free him on television.
Cardinal Pell said he ‘took great pleasure’ in watching how ‘disconcerted’ the television reporter looked when it was announced his conviction was quashed.
‘When it came through, one enormous cheer went up from outside and then my two friends came knocking on the door congratulating me,’ he said.
The cardinal also answered long-held questions about who paid for his multi-million-dollar defence.
He said he contributed savings to his legal team, as did a lot of generous, ordinary Catholics – as well as some wealthy people who ‘kicked in very solidly.’
Pell’s defence included two trials, neither of which he gave evidence at, though he considered it at his second trial.
But he said he was concerned he would ‘come across as my nasty aggressive self’ and lash out at prosecutor Mark Gibson SC.
Cardinal Pell said he ‘became so incensed at the way prosecutors dealt with [two witnesses]’ at his trial.
‘I thought that if I were to get in there I’ll have such a go at that fella because of this outrage,’ he said.
He admitted the lowest point in his trial and conviction was the decision of the Victorian Court of Appeal last year, saying he never ‘believed there was the remotest possibility that a couple of judges would not uphold my appeal.’
The 78-year-old spoke candidly about the church’s failings following his release from prison in a sit down interview with Sky News Australia presenter Andrew Bolt. Pell is pictured in 2008
The Diocese of Ballarat admitted it subsequently failed to take any reasonable steps to protect the victim from Ridsdale (pictured) in the 1980s
Cardinal Pell told Bolt any suggestion that he is anti-victim or not sufficiently sympathetic toward abuse survivors grieves him, and that he worked hard ‘when it wasn’t easy or fashionable’.
But he admitted he is ashamed of the church’s response and ‘occasionally’ wished he had done things differently.
He also thought it was ‘ironic’ that he was convicted of child sexual abuse when it was he who led the Melbourne Archdiocese response against it.
‘I think it’s a bit ironic that I’m the figurehead, the scapegoat that has copped most of this because what I did very early in 1996 is set up the Melbourne Response,’ he said.
Bolt also questioned Pell on notorious paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale, who the cardinal lived and worked with in the 1970s.
Cardinal Pell said he believes Ridsdale had ‘done an immense amount of harm’ and ‘he acknowledges that and regrets it’.
‘Christians are told to forgive. I know how very, very difficult that would be. I don’t run around saying to people they should forgive,’ Cardinal Pell said.
‘There’s this heroic Christian call to forgiveness in the most appalling circumstances.’
He said priests were trained to think well of people and he didn’t regret that, but instinct in the past was to disbelieve allegations as gossip unless substantiated.
But he said ‘it wasn’t as though we were alone in this’ when asked about police working with bishops to move paedophiles to different parishes. He said he didn’t know about it at the time.
Cardinal Pell was asked if he was ‘making excuses’ for Ridsdale, who abused and indecently assaulted 65 children.
‘I’ve read horrific accounts of these… one of the things that grieves me is the suggestion that I’m anti-sympathetic,’ he said.
As for the future, Cardinal Pell said he would spend some time in Rome but plans to stay in Sydney, writing and growing cabbages.
The 78-year-old is reportedly under police investigation after a new accuser came forward with fresh allegations of child abuse.