Protesters chant ‘shame’, wave banners at Cardinal Pell’s funeral in Sydney
Cardinal George Pell's funeral
The funeral of controversial top Vatican cardinal George Pell in Sydney saw some protesters confrontmourners with chants of "shame" on Thursday. Pell had passed away in Rome last month at the age of 81 and was buried in the crypt of St Mary's Cathedral amid angry protests and a heavy police presence.
Pell was the most senior Catholic official to be convicted of child sex abuse. He was later acquitted when the ruling was overturned in 2020. He was Australia's highest ranking Catholic cleric, and the most senior Church figure ever jailed for such offences.
Pell's supporters have dubbed him a "saint for our times". But there are those who accuse him of protecting paedophile priests.
Riot police lined barricades as he was being laid to rest to keep protesters away from the thousands of mourners queuing to get into the funeral.
Police outside St Mary's Cathedral had to intervene to separate mourners from the angry protesters, one of whom was arrested.
Protesters cried "shame" and waved banners declaring "Pell Burn in Hell". Meanwhile, a small group of Pell supporters draped rosary beads over the ribbons.
Community Action for Rainbow Rights also organised a protest to coincide with the start of thefuneral. The group condemned his ultraconservative views on abortion and same-sex marriage.
Pell was in jail for 13 months and his case rocked the Roman Catholic Church worldwide. He was a former archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney and served as economy minister at the Vatican from 2014 until 2017 when he took a leave of absence to return to Australia to face the abuse charges.
Pell had infamously once said that homosexuality was a "much greater health hazard than smoking". He even refused to give communion to openly gay worshippers while he was archbishop of Sydney.
He also acknowledged the Church had "been slow to address the anguish" of sexual abuse victims and "dealt with it very imperfectly".
(With inputs from agencies)
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