REVEALED: Cardinal George Pell's cousin was a devout Catholic nun who left the church after falling in love with a female missionary in Chile
- Cousin of exonerated Cardinal George Pell a Catholic nun who worked in Chile
- Monica Hingston said she 'fell head over heels' for the fellow nun she met in 1983
- She said the Catholic Church had 'vicious condemnation' for homosexuality
- 79-year-old previously called on Cardinal Pell to support same-sex relationships
A cousin of Cardinal George Pell was a Catholic nun who fell in love with a woman she met while working as a missionary in Chile.
Monica Hingston, 79, a second cousin once removed of the exonerated cardinal who had his conviction for child sex abuse quashed by the High Court in April, met American Peg Moran - a fellow nun from Iowa - in 1983.
Ms Hingston said it was four months later when they were on a bus ride to a fishing village that she 'fell head over heels' for the other woman.
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Monica Hingston, 79, a second cousin of Cardinal George Pell, has spoken of how she left the Catholic Church after falling in love with another nun Peg Moran (couple pictured together) in Chlie in the 1980s
Ms Hingston pictured in 1964. She said she couldn't reconcile her relationship with the church's stance on homosexual relationships
'We talked and talked,' she told SBS Insight.
'It was almost as if we were trying desperately to show each other who we were, in the time we had. I felt I might not have another chance.'
She said the pair moved in together four months later, but could no longer accept the Catholic Church's position on their union.
'We talked about the teachings of the church and the quite vicious condemnation of homosexual relationships,' she said.
'We knew that we couldn't remain within our congregations.'
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The couple left the church and returned to Australia - with Ms Hingston saying she and her partner enjoyed '27 beautiful years together' before Ms Moran's death in 2011.
Ms Hingston said she was related to Cardinal Pell - whose conviction for abusing two choirboys in Melbourne in 1996 was quashed by the High Court in April - through her father.
In 2011, she penned an open letter to her relative calling on him to denounce the Vatican's description of those in same-sex relationships as 'seriously depraved persons'.
Ms Hingston at the Australian LGBTI Awards in March 2019. She said she and her partner enjoyed '27 beautiful years together' before Ms Moran's death in 2011
Cardinal George Pell pictured in June 2017. The former Vatican finance minister was convicted and then absolved of sexual abuse
'It is hard to imagine that you would actually be able to look me in the eye and tell me any of those adjectives could truthfully describe me,' she wrote in the letter.
Addressing the issue again in last week's program, Ms Hingston said the Catholic Church didn't 'understand the lived experiences' of people like her.
'The love I had for Peg, and hers for me, just made it so clear that this was such a beautiful gift,' she said.
'It’s so obvious that you have something that you will go through hell and high water for.'
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