Cardinal George Pell, Australia’s most senior Catholic and the third-ranking official in the Vatican, has been charged with multiple sexual offences by police. It represents the biggest crisis of Pope Francis’s papacy. Pell says he is returning to Australia to clear his name. Last year he refused to return to give evidence to the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse in person and instead gave evidence by videolink from Rome, citing ill health.
Pell, born 8 June 1941, Ballarat, Australia, has a Gemini Sun at the same degree as the Vatican (7 June 1929 11 am Rome). Pell’s Sun squares onto a Mars in Pisces opposition Neptune in Virgo; and he has the heavyweight Saturn Uranus in Taurus trine Neptune. The next two or three years look swampy and tough going with tr Neptune in an undermining conjunction to his Mars in 2018, and then square his Sun in 2019; and tr Pluto in a discouraging trine to his Saturn in 2018/19. This year the August Leo Eclipse will conjunct his Solar Arc Sun exactly and tr Saturn is square his Neptune – so a crisis with high anxiety.
Pope Francis’s Election chart, 13 March 2013 7.06pm Rome, is at its least stable this year with the Solar Arc Uranus exactly square the 4th house Pluto, detonating deep fears. Tr Saturn is now also exactly in a discouraging square to the Pisces Sun, repeating until late autumn. Tr Saturn then proceeds to conjunct Mars Uranus from early 2018 till late in the year; with worse shocks in 2019 from Solar Arc Mars conjunct Uranus.
Pell’s Jupiter Uranus are conjunct the Vatican’s MC so he is a key figure. His Solar Arc Sun is now conjunct the Vatican’s 12th house Neptune in Leo which is also catching the full effect of the Leo Solar Eclipse. Neptune in the 12th in a mundane chart points to secret delusions, confusion and is associated with scandals. The Eclipse conjunct Neptune offers a choice to the Vatican between continuing self-deceit or greater spiritual understanding. At the moment the Vatican chart is being dissolved at the foundations by tr Neptune square the Gemini Moon this year; moving on to square the Sun/Moon midpoint, then the Sun by 2019. Lack of will power, indecision and drift are more likely than direct action.
It’s not been a good week for high clergy in the UK either, with George Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury forced to resign from his post in the Church of England over a report that he was amongst senior figures who colluded with paedophile bishop Peter Ball.
Lord Carey held the most senior role in the Church of England in 1993, when Ball’s abuse of a young man, an aspirant monk, Neil Todd, initially came to light. Mr Todd killed himself in 2012. The Gibb report found that Lord Carey was aware of six letters sent by members of the public making further allegations, but did not pass them on to police. He also wrote a letter to Ball’s twin brother, Bishop Michael Ball, saying he believed he was “basically innocent”. A major independent review found the Church of England “concealed” evidence of child abuse against Ball for more than 20 years. He was jailed for 32 months in October 2015 after admitting to a string of historical sex offences against teenage boys and young men between the 1970s and the 1990s. Lord Carey said last week: “I believed Peter Ball’s protestations and gave too little credence to the vulnerable young men and boys behind those allegations.”
Ball, 14 Feb 1932, is a Sun Mars in Aquarius opposition Jupiter in Leo, which squared onto a Taurus Moon – so obstinate, uncompromising, over-confident; with a tough Saturn opposition Pluto. He was evidently charismatic and specialised in ministry to young people, especially boys; and used his connections with the Royal Family, especially Prince Charles, to deflect criticism. He appeared to have been introduced to Prince Charles by Jimmy Savile; was a mentor through the breakdown of the marriage to Diana; and gave the address at the funeral of Camilla’s father, Major Bruce Shand.
Carey, 13 Nov 1935, is a Sun Scorpio which sits oddly with Ball’s Sun Mars in Aquarius; but their relationship chart had a friendly composite Sun Venus conjunction square Jupiter – so superficial charm won the argument.
My tuppence worth is there should be a criminal offence in the UK and elsewhere, as there is in the USA, of ‘depraved indifference’. Where those in positions of high office who looked the other way are held culpable, especially when deaths occur due to lack of direct action.
Ball’s closeness to Charles and Camilla is chilling.
Thanks for this, Marjorie. The historical cover-up (do they allow priests to abuse boys as a payoff for “celibacy”?). The lovely Pope Frank has also not said a word about it – I had at least hoped he would make a statement but no….they’re all hoping it will die down and go away. I was taught by Catholic nuns and remember being shocked rigid when one of my classmates said to a “visiting priest” bestowing blessings and obeisance in equal measure “Why are you hiding behind that collar?” – we must have been 13, he went crimson, but I am sure her innocent question rattled him. And then there was the family priest, who went on picnics alone with one of my aunts…….!!!
Maggy, There is a very odd connection between strong religious belief on the one hand and all manner of non-spiritual and highly immoral attributes – that I have never been able to work out. Misogyny for one – some of the fundamentalist Islamic views on women would have enchanted the mediaeval Vatican.
Aggression – if you had deleted religion from way back you’d have got rid of a goodly chunk of wars.
Sex! It’s the staggering hypocrisy that’s impossible to get over with child-abusing priests of all denominations. What goes on inside their warped heads? And underlying all child abuse is aggression. It’s not love, whatever the perverts will attempt to justify to themselves and others. It’s driven by anger and hatred.
There’s also some link up between sex offenders and financial dishonesty. So it’s the full spectrum of Neptune. One day I’ll pin it down.