Cardinal George Pell and Pope Benedict XVI. (CNS/Reuters)

Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia, took a break this week from his busy schedule in Rome to talk to the Register.

Cardinal Pell, who is serving as one of three delegate presidents at the current Synod of Bishops on the Word of God, talked about a range of issues connected to the synod.

He also touched on the recent World Youth Day in his hometown and on the global financial crisis.

Here’s an excerpt from Cardinal Pell’s remarks to us, in which he discusses the significance of Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople’s unprecedented Oct. 18 address to the synod’s participants:

Said the cardinal, “When you’ve been disunited for a thousand years, you cannot undo that in 15 minutes, much less in 30, 40 or 50 years. But the symbolic importance of his [Bartholomew’s] presence at a synod of bishops on the Word of God in the magnificent setting of the Sistine Chapel where the Popes have been chosen, I think,  for about 500 years — this is a symbolism which will rank, I think, with the visits of [Patriarch] Athenagoras with Paul VI. It represents a significant step ahead.”

Look for the Register’s complete interview with Cardinal Pell in our upcoming Nov. 2 issue.

— Tom McFeely