It’s been a while since we’ve heard from comedy singer Tim Minchin, but now it seems he is back with a vengeance in the form of his latest single, Come Home (Cardinal Pell).
Taking firm and square aim at, you guessed it, Cardinal George Pell, Minchin has weighed in on the current issues surrounding the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Pell was requested to come to court to give evidence into his input into the decades-spanning travesty that involved countless allegations of child sexual abuse committed by members of the Catholic Church (among other institutations). However, it recently came to light that poor old Pell is currently too sick to travel from the Vatican to Ballarat, and so the healing process of the victims, not to mention the legal process, has been stalled.
Minchin wasn’t buying any of it, and has announced a musical open season on the Cardinal with his new song. Calling him a “fucking coward” and “scum”, his tongue-in-cheek delivery hides a very vicious tongue as he tears Pell to shreds.
“With all due respect dude, I think you are scum and I reckon you should come home,” he sings.
Minchin also took to his blog to further bring home his message, writing, “Cardinal George Pell is the most powerful dude in the Catholic Church of Australia. He’s currently working at the Vatican, but The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has demanded his presence in Australia.
“But George has sent a doctor’s note saying he’s too unwell to fly.
“The whole thing stinks to high hell, and many people in Australia are very, very angry…not least of all, the survivors in Ballarat, where abuse was sickeningly rife.”
With no word that Pell is set to make a recovery, it almost seemed as if hope was lost and the victims would never get their face to face time with him – but Minchin wasn’t having that either. All proceeds of the song are going to a crowdfunding campaign to send the victims to Rome instead of Pell coming back home, which has already received an absolutely whopping $132,511 over two days – and the campaign was only asking for $55K in the first place!
The idea behind getting the victims physically in front of Pell is to stop any wrongdoing that could happen with Pell’s suggested alternative of giving evidence via video link.
“The opportunity to face Cardinal Pell is the least our community can do for these brave people who have bared their souls to ensure the world is a safer place for all children,” writes Meshel Laurie and Gorgi Coghlan, the two behind the GoFundMe page.
Minchin wrote on his blog about the ties Pell has to the case, saying “Pell was born and educated in Ballarat, and at one point actually lived with Gerry Ridsdale, one of the most prolific (and allegedly protected) paedophiles in Australian history. He has been accused of covering up the actions of others, and of sexually abusing a kid himself.”
“The idea that Pell was unaware of the behaviour of Ridsdale (and others) is laughable to me.”
Check out the song below for yourself, and if you wish to donate to the campaign head here. Come Home (Cardinal Pell) is also available on iTunes.
Image: Triple J