Exclusive: Cardinal Pell: "We Need More Young Catholics In Politics and Media"

Powerful Australian Cardinal George Pell Has Encouraged More Young Australian Catholics To Join Political Parties In A B.A. Santamaria Style Renewal Of Church and State Relations in Australia.

Laudetur Iesus Christus.

Sydney - Australian Cardinal, George Pell has encouraged young Catholics to join political and media ranks en masse in a bid to increase the influence of the Holy Church in Australian society.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Welcomes World Youth Day To Parliament in 2008. Photo: ABC

Whilst speaking to a gathering of young Catholics hosted by the Australian Catholic Students Association, His Eminence called for young Catholics to get involved in all areas of political life, from having basic political conversations to becoming Members of Parliament or Journalists.

When asked by Vox Fidei if the Church needs to play a greater role in Australian Politics, Cardinal Pell said: "If [the Church] is going to play a role in politics, you need to be in political parties. I regularly encourage [Young Catholics] to go into both sides of politics, even at a rudimentary level.

Politics is an important and very difficult area of life. If all the good people leave politics [the Church's and society's political] situation goes from bad to worse."

The Cardinal said that there are now many progressive movements within political parties who do not want practising Catholics in their ranks; nonetheless, His Eminence said enlisting Catholics was an advantageous move; "A steady stream of young Catholics with a world view and a set of values to which they are committed is of huge advantage to political movements.

We don't want political parties to be completely dominated by people whose overwhelming ambition is simply to continue their own career, nor those who decide policy almost totally as a result of opinion polls and surveys. We need conviction politicians, men and women, and good numbers of them."

One senior major political party source told Vox Fidei under the condition of anonymity that she is aware of several Catholic Parishes that have been used to recruit members to her party. "We look for new members whose views and beliefs align with those of our party, our faction and our faith." she said.

When asked about members of her own party who suggest that the Church should not be involved in politics she said; "Anyone who goes and preaches a separation of Church and State is ignorant to history, ignorant to Australia, and ignorant to the reality of politics. We owe much of our society and our politics to the Church."

Finally, Cardinal Pell called young Catholics to arms to form new media organisations and action groups to evangelise those in politics and society; "There are new small [political action] groups, which is a worthy form of endeavour. We also need good writers [and journalists], in all sorts of places, which is very important.

[Young Catholics] need to be forming their own magazines [and newspapers] and writing in other's publications too, not just two or three sentences on social media."

This news comes at a time when rifts within major political parties push Catholic politicians together, whilst many Catholic politicos suggest their Bishops lack political whit.

As was once held by commanding Melbourne Archbishop Daniel Mannix, the Bishops' lack of political power makes room for the radical left of politics to destroy the values and institutions bestowed on Society by the Church for millennia.

However, word currently circling the Federal Parliament is that influential leaders in the Catholic laity, frustrated with Bishops, are looking to form strong political action groups under the guidance of powerful Catholic political figures such as Cardinal George Pell.