George Pell dies: Watch Australian Cardinal’s final TV interview with Colm Flynn before shock death

A cheerful and reflective Cardinal George Pell paid tribute to the late Pope Benedict XVI in his final television interview just eight days before his shock death.

The most senior Australian to serve the Catholic Church died in Rome at the age of 81 on Wednesday after complications from hip replacement surgery, the Vatican has confirmed. 

Cardinal Pell looked frail but appeared upbeat last week when he sat down with Colm Flynn, Vatican Correspondent for EWT News, for a BBC interview looking back on his memories of Pope Benedict XVI who died earlier this month. 

Mr Flynn also asked Cardinal Pell about his own legacy and regrets in a separate interview for the BBC.

In the wake of his sudden death, Mr Flynn said Cardinal Pell had been in good form and that the pair had arranged to meet up again in the near future.

The six minute interview began with the Cardinal recalling his initial reaction to the news of the former Pope’s death.

‘I was very sad, as a matter of fact I was surprised how sad I was’ Cardinal Pell said.

‘I knew he was sick and I he was dying. I was pleased as I thought I heard he was rallying.’

‘I’d known him well enough. admired what he was about. I thought he was very good for the church.’ 

One of his fondest memories of Pope Benedict XVI was his visit to Australia in 2008 for World Youth Day, which was attended by half a million young people from 200 countries. 

Cardinal Pell describe the late Pope one-on-one as the complete opposite of the ‘absurd’ caricatures his enemies had of him.

‘He was a quiet, gentle, and pious man, an absolute gentleman,’ he recalled.

Cardinal George Pell’s fondest memories of Pope Benedict XVI (left) was his 2008 Australian visit for World Youth Day celebrations

He admitted the late Pope had some faults.

‘He wasn’t the greater administrator, greatest executive.’ 

Cardinal Pell is reported to have successfully undergone his hip replacement operation and was happily chatting with the anaesthetist when he went into sudden cardiac arrest. Medics were unable to revive him.

Pell, a conservative Catholic, was at the centre of Australia’s most high profile claims of childhood sexual abuse. 

He was ordained a priest in 1966, became a bishop in 1987, and was appointed Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996 and Archbishop of Sydney in 2001 before was made a cardinal in 2003.

But Cardinal Pell was at the centre of sex abuse allegations for almost two decades and in 2018 he was convicted of historical incidents which he strenuously denied.

More to come