Former Australian PM hails George Pell as a ‘saint’ as funeral of controversial cardinal sparks protests | CNN

Sydney, Australia
CNN
 — 

Cardinal George Pell stays a divisive determine even in dying, with indignant protests at his funeral in Sydney on Thursday and a former prime minister describing him as a “saint.”

The Cardinal’s funeral passed off at St. Mary’s Cathedral, with police pressured to intervene as protesters gathered to confront mourners.

Former Australian prime ministers Tony Abbott and John Howard had been amongst those that attended his funeral. Abbott praised the late Cardinal Pell throughout a eulogy, describing him as a “soldier for fact” and a “saint for our instances” in a speech that was met with applause.

Exterior, police separated supporters of Pell from folks protesting towards the memorial for the Cardinal, who was convicted of child sex abuse earlier than the ruling was overturned in 2020.

A whole bunch of protesters gathered outdoors the cathedral after Australian police dropped a court docket bid to dam the demonstration, Reuters information company reported. Speeches towards Cardinal Pell and the Catholic Church got in a close-by park, with some holding banners and chanting “George Pell go to Hell,” in line with Reuters.

Three folks, two males and one girl, had been detained outdoors St. Mary’s Cathedral, New South Wales police mentioned in a press release. Police mentioned no expenses had been introduced towards them.

Joseph Samarasinghe, one of many mourners who attended the funeral, instructed CNN: “We will be taught by our errors. And I feel now the church is extra conscious of all of the errors that the clergy has finished. So I feel we’re in the appropriate course.”

In the meantime Kim Stern, the protest organizer, mentioned they’ll proceed to struggle towards all the things Cardinal Pell stood for till there’s “full equality” in Australia.

“For the politicians, the judges, folks from the political institution which are attending the funeral service at this time, we need to ship a message that we’re going to struggle towards all the things that the Catholic Church and Pell stood for. And proceed to struggle till there’s full equality on this nation,” he mentioned.

Cardinal Pell was essentially the most senior Catholic official to be convicted of kid intercourse abuse earlier than the ruling was overturned in 2020. He died final month on the age of 81.

Born within the regional metropolis of Ballarat, Australia, on June 8, 1941, Pell rose by means of the ranks of the Roman Catholic Church to change into Vatican treasurer, thought of by many to be the third most senior place inside the church.

He served in that function from 2014 to 2019 in command of Pope Francis’ monetary reforms, which largely stalled when he was referred to as again to Australia to face allegations of historic intercourse abuse.

Pell was convicted of these expenses in 2018 and served 13 months in jail earlier than Australia’s Excessive Courtroom overturned his conviction in April 2020.

The cardinal is a divisive determine in Australia and lots of on Twitter used the event of his dying to precise their help for the survivors of kid intercourse abuse.