Phillip George Pendal was a Liberal

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

 and later Independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 Western Australian politician, pro-life

Pro-life

Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...

 advocate, and historian.
Born in Bunbury, Western Australia

Bunbury, Western Australia

The port city of Bunbury is the third largest city in Western Australia after the State Capital Perth and Mandurah. It is situated south of Perth's central business district...

, Phillip Pendal was raised and schooled as a Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 and his strong Catholic principles continued to influence him for the rest of his life, culminating in him being honoured by the Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

 with the Holy Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice

Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice

The Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal is an award of the Roman Catholic Church. It is also known as the "Cross of Honour". The medal was established by Leo XIII on July 17, 1888, to commemorate his golden sacerdotal jubilee and was originally bestowed on those women and men who had aided and...

 (Cross for the Church and the Pontiff) on 14 April 2005.

Prior to his career in politics, Pendal worked as a print journalist from 1965 until 1975, winning a cadetship with WA Newspapers that saw him writing for Bunbury’s South Western Times from 1966 until 1968, when he was made editor of the Manjimup-Warren Times.