The putative Australian deputy sheriff in any Abbott-led federal government?

Reading recent utterances of a certain Prince of the Church (and remembering his close cooperation with Abbott during the 2007 campaign) one cannot help but wonder if George Pell sees a possible Coalition victory on 21 August this year as less of a win for neo-conservative politics and more of a victory for the Catholic faith.

A victory which would allow him to figuratively perch on Tony Abbott's left shoulder and encourage that flawed politician's worst character traits.

Pell is obviously afraid that any increase in votes for The Greens would weaken Abbott's chances of becoming Australia's Über Right Wing Catholic prime minister and, the cardinal let fly with these sentiments last Sunday:

The Green ethic, as Bob Brown has written about it with Peter Singer, is that humans are simply another smarter animal, so that humans and animals are on the same or similar levels depending on their level of consciousness. This is to replace the Judaeo-Christian [sic] beliefs at the heart of Australia's values with the law of the jungle. It can be seen in the Greens' enthusiasm for abortion and euthanasia, which is bad news for the weak and the vulnerable, especially at the beginning and the end of life, and thoroughly anti-Christian.
and
One wing of the Greens are like water melons, green outside and red inside. A number were Stalinists, supporting Soviet oppression. A few years ago they even tried unsuccessfully to use the privileges committee of the N.S.W. Legislative Council to silence religious voices in public debate.
and again
"sweet-camouflaged poison".

In this he was supported on the NSW North Coast by the Catholic Bishop of Lismore Diocese who told the faithful that in voting they should consider candidates in this light:

"What sort of beliefs do they espouse? What sort of values do they hold, especially in regard to marriage and the family, in regard to the dignity and sanctity of human life? Is this candidate pro-life? Does he or she reflect the thinking and conduct of a person to whom I am happy, in conscience before God, to confide my vote?....we cannot ignore the enormous moral and social consequence of condoning the deliberate destruction of unborn human life."

While the bishop's counterpart in Perth had already questioned the advisability of voting for a atheist Labor prime minister in the person of Julia Gillard:

"Many Christians are concerned that someone who does not believe in God may not endorse the Christian traditions of respect for human life, for the sanctity of marriage and the independence of churches, church schools and church social welfare agencies."

The media release hurriedly sent out by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference on 9 August, which began "Catholic Bishops do not tell people who to vote for", did not allay all fears that Pell and Co were not so subtly trying to direct votes in their congregations towards the only party headed by a committed pro-lifer.

It seems that Australian religious just can't resist meddling in the secular and, in case you were wondering, any lack of democracy after August 2010 is probably your fault - you, you, you nasty blogospherers!

Pell photograph credit: The Sydney Morning Herald