George Pell: Australian cardinal says Trump is ‘a barbarian, but he’s our barbarian’

The cardinal praised Trump for picking two Catholics for the US Supreme Court

File image: Australia's Cardinal George Pell  (AFP/Getty Images)

Cardinal George Pell, Pope Francis’s former treasurer, has praised US president Donald Trump  for his “positive contribution” to Christianity through his three Supreme Court picks, two of whom are Catholic.

Mr Trump is unfortunately “a bit of a barbarian, but in some important ways, he is ‘our’ barbarian,” said Cardinal Pell at the launch of his book “Prison Journal” which is about the 404 days that he spent in solitary confinement.

The Australian Cardinal was, however, not supportive of the president’s election fraud allegations.  

“In other areas, I’m not sure that he’s been sufficiently respectful of the political process and it’s important that people believe they’re getting a fair go. And if that’s not the case, it needs to be established very, very clearly because it’s no small thing to weaken trust in great public institutions,” he said.

Since the election results last month that projected president-elect Joe Biden as the winner, Mr Trump has refused to concede and alleged election fraud. His team pursued legal challenges in several states but remained unsuccessful.  

Mr Trump’s attempts, however, have invited widespread criticism as people, including Republicans, noted that this damages the faith of the public in institutions. On Monday, the US electoral college voted in favour of Mr Biden, formally deciding the election result – but Mr Trump is still yet to acknowledge defeat.

Cardinal Pell was cleared of sexual abuse charges by Australia’s High Court in April, after the court found that there was reasonable doubt in the testimony of his lone accuser.

Cardinal Pell suggested there was evidence – but not proof – that his prosecution was related to his work trying to reform the Vatican’s finances. He even repeated unsubstantiated and unsourced Italian media reports which claimed that money was sent from the Vatican to Australia to influence his prosecution.

Additional reporting by agencies