Very few recent figures in the Catholic church have left such a divisive legacy as Pell, who died at age 81 from cardiac arrest after minor hip surgery. He was once considered the third most powerful person in the church, and the rise, fall, and redemption of a powerful conservative has served to both energize and muddy the conversations within the church about sex abuse and justice.Pell’s legal saga began in 2017, when he was first accused of sexual misconduct.
After his release, some Catholics came to lionize Pell as a victim of the secular world’s anti-religious fervor, and he became a