When the McCarrick scandal first broke in America, Catholics began to leave the Church in droves. But when the verdict against Cardinal George Pell was leaked in December, and the suppression order was lifted on February 27, Australian Catholics continued to attend Mass in the same numbers as before. One reason for this is that many do not consider the cardinal guilty.
Beyond the Church, the public – for whom Pell has often been a hate figure – certainly reacted. Outside Melbourne’s County Court the crowd chanted “Go to hell Pell” and displayed “Pell-ophile” posters. An online petition demanding the removal of his Order of Australia gathered 100,000 signatures, Richmond Football Club removed him as its vice-patron and his alma mater, St Patrick’s College, Ballarat, renamed its “Pell Wing” as “Waterford Wing”, putting a line through his name on the college board.
