Parliamentary Report Clearing Cardinal Pell of Contempt of Parliament

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
20/9/2007

The Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, has welcomed a parliamentary report clearing him of contempt of Parliament.

“This is welcome news”, he said; “no surprise, and a win for religious freedom”.

Cardinal Pell was referred to the Privileges Committee of the NSW Legislative Council for comments he made during the debate on the Human Cloning Bill earlier this year.

Answering questions at a media conference on June 5, Cardinal Pell pointed out factually that “Catholic politicians who vote for this legislation must realise that their voting has consequences for their place in the life of the Church”.

Cardinal Pell’s comments were referred to the Privileges Committee on June 6.

In its report to the state’s upper house, the Privileges Committee has found there is no contempt of Parliament in Cardinal Pell’s remarks, and has recommended that no further action be taken.

“This decision is consistent with comments made by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly made on June 6, which found that my remarks were ‘part of the public debate on a controversial issue’ and had ‘not affected the rights of Members to express their views and vote as they deem appropriate’, Cardinal Pell said.

“I particularly welcome the Committee’s recommendation that allegations of contempt should be focussed only on those forms of extreme conduct which seriously compromise the ability of MPs to carry out their duties.

“Christians in Australia have long played an important part in ensuring that fundamental human rights are respected. My contribution to the public discussion on human cloning was made in this spirit and tradition. To prevent religious leaders from publicly stating their claims to truth would stifle religious freedom and hamper open debate on matters of public interest. This would not be the Australian way.

"The recommendations of the Privileges Committee in this report support freedom of speech and will help strengthen and protect the right to religious freedom.

“I thank the Committee and its members for this, and for the courtesy they extended to me during the enquiry”.

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The full text of Cardinal Pell's response to the Privileges Committee can be found here.
The report of the Privileges Committee clearing Cardinal Pell of contempt of Parliament can be found here.

Further information: Jim Hanna 0414 828 629.