Cardinal George Pell will be remembered for many things—from his reform of the Curia to his trial in Australia. But for Fr. Bijoy Joseph and Deacon Richard Sofatzis, who knew him both as archbishop and cardinal, he was a friend who encouraged young men to be resolute in their vocational discernment.
DEACON RICHARD SOFATZIS
He was very bold, very convicting. He says whatever you do, please don't join the order of the OPD, which is the order of perpetual discernment. He was very encouraging that we just need to make a decision.
Before being made a cardinal in 2003, Cardinal Pell served as the Archbishop of Sydney, Australia for 13 years. There, he worked with young men discerning the priesthood—something that left an impression on Fr. Bijoy.
FR. BIJOY JOSEPH
I remember him organizing these dinners for men discerning the priesthood and I got invited to one of those. And I thought it was just dinner with the Archbishop of Sydney at the time. It turned out to be a vocations dinner. It caught a lot of us by surprise, but that was sort of like the bit of the forthright nature that he was.
After moving to Rome, Cardinal Pell continued to focus on creating a community for people far from home. He had Domus Australia built, a pilgrim home and community center for Australians in Rome.
FR. BIJOY JOSEPH
His idea was to establish a residence that Australian pilgrims could congregate at.
He loved the church. He understood that the church was its people but also its impact on society.
Fr. Bijoy and Deacon Richard believe the Cardinal was dedicated to serving the Church both universally and individually.
DEACON RICHARD SOFATZIS
Whenever we would get together with him, he always kind of left us motiviated and inspired to continue in the path that God has laid ahead of us, fully aware that there were many challenges that we'll come against.
Cardinal Pell's body will lie in state until the funeral Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on January 14. He will then be buried in St. Mary's Basilica in Sydney, Australia.
KG
