“There has been only one Christian. They caught him and crucified him …… “ – Mark Twain. (N.B. As with many things written by Mark Twain, I prefer enjoying the humour of this quote over pretending that I know whether or not every single part of it is true.)
When Anglican David Farrer was ordained as a bishop, Roman Catholic stalwart George Pell stood beside him.
Later, as a Cardinal trusted by both Pope Benedict and then Pope Francis, George Pell became the second most successful Australian Catholic ever behind Saint Mary of the Cross.
Some voices I have heard rate Pell’s prison journal as one of the greatest works of literature produced in Australia.
In the Catholic Weekly, independent schoolmaster Michael E Daniel wrote: “It ranks with other literature written by people of faith who suffered imprisonment, including Walter Ciszek, Francis Xavier Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan and Thomas More, and may prove – with the test of time – to be a spiritual classic.”
Bishop David Farrer expresses his admiration of Cardinal George Pell’s prison journal in this clip made today. The bishop describes the journal as “remarkably uplifting” and helpful for prayer.
How can ordinary people make sense of all this?
Today is the 113th anniversary of Mark Twain’s death in 1910.
Perhaps the following words of Twain can help us to see that there is no single easy human way to fully comprehend why Pell’s life in Australia finished as it did:
“Man is a Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion – several of them.”
Geoff Fox, 21st April, 2023, Down Under
Ways Of Being Christian 