Father Bob Is Not A George Pell Fan But Loves Tim Minchin

South Melbourne priest Father Bob Maguire added further to his comments about George Pell and Tim Minchin earlier this week clarifying his feeling for the Catholic Cardinal saying he is “not the greatest admirer (in Church matters) of Cardinal Pell”.

Father Maguire says Tim Minchin has done sexual abuse victims a favour releasing the song. “Its the kind of thing that victims of clerical abuse needed to hear in the public forum,” Father Bob said. “Tim Minchin’s done them a favour”.

Tim Minchin released his damning ‘Come Home (Cardinal Pell)’ about the Australian cardinal George Pell, the third highest ranking Catholic in the world. Pell has angered abuse victims by calling in sick for the Royal Commission into sexual abuse next week and instead choosing to stay in exile in The Vatican and give evidence via a video link from halfway around the world instead.

When Minchin released the song last week it shot to number one on Australia’s iTunes chart generating a response from Melbourne’s Archbishop Denis Hart who took the side of Pell and not the victims over the song’s content.

“I am appalled at the manner in which Cardinal George Pell has been denigrated publicly this week,” Hart said in a statement.

However, the much-respected Father Maguire sees everything differently from the Archbishop and his mate the Cardinal and says if they followed the word of the Pope they would exercise ‘Mercy’. “The Pope is running around the world saying ‘listen awful things are happening everywhere’ but we Catholics must exercise what he calls Mercy,” he says. “Now that’s not a saleable product these days in this country called Australia because we want to identify people as being on our side or not. Those not on our side we demonise them so that it gives up the opportunity to beat them up. Mercy is not like that”.

Father Bob says Tim Minchin has done a good job with the song regardless of the biting lyrics. “Some of the lyrics are a bit damning of George Pell. ‘There’s a special place in hell for you George Pell’. Then I thought once again the pain and agony, you say things and you are not responsible for you language. Just be satisfied Tim Minchin has done and good job for the whole enormous number of people who have been tortured by the church authorities”.

Watch Father Bob Maguire’s explanation here: