Protesters on Thursday denounced the conservative views of Australian Cardinal George Pell, who died in January, at a high funeral mass organized in Sydney by the Catholic Church, which commemorated his "remarkable legacy".
George Pell, who died on January 11 in Rome at the age of 81, was buried in the crypt of St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, after a mass and papal funeral in accordance with the traditions of the Church.
Outside the Cathedral, where a large police force had been deployed, demonstrators shouted "shame" in the direction of people who came to attend the ceremony.
Once considered the third most influential man in the Vatican, Bishop Pell continues to divide Australia.
His supporters have praised this modern-day "saint", but for victims of sexual violence in the Church, his death has brought back painful memories.
The target of a series of scandals in the last years of his life, Bishop Pell spent 13 months behind bars for abusing two altar boys in the 1990s.
Convicted at first instance and then on appeal, the prelate was finally cleared for the benefit of the doubt by the Australian High Court and released in 2020.
Outside St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, thousands of people waited Thursday to pay their respects.
Riot police erected barricades to block access to demonstrators, who on the other side of the road were waving banners, with a message: "Pell is burning in hell".
Dianne Jacobus, a victim of sexual abuse, was one of them. Along with the ceremony, she and other protesters tied ribbons to the cathedral railings, in solidarity with other Church victims. To which some supporters of Cardinal Pell have responded by affixing rosaries to these same ribbons.
"It's about children," criticizes Dianne Jacobus. "I was abused by a priest when I was 16. How can you honor someone who turned a blind eye?".
Additionally, the Community Action for Rainbow Rights staged a protest against Cardinal Pell at the start of his funeral, condemning his ultra-conservative stance on same-sex marriage.
Bishop Pell had notably declared that homosexuality was "a far greater danger to health than smoking". He had also refused to give communion to gay worshipers when he was Archbishop of Sydney.
The protests are "disgusting," said 63-year-old economist William Coleman. For him, the prelate was a "good man" unjustly persecuted. Other mourners also wondered if his time in prison had not precipitated his death.
Bishop Pell had acknowledged that the Church had been “slow to respond to the anguish” of victims of sexual violence and that it had “dealt with the problem in a very imperfect way”.
The tense scenes outside contrast with the solemn ceremony taking place in the cathedral.
Catholic Church officials said the funeral was the "largest" ever held at St Mary's Cathedral in central Sydney.
The Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, has compared George Pell to medieval crusader and King of England Richard the Lionheart, known for being a fierce warrior.
"23 days ago the lion's roar was unexpectedly silenced," Mr Fisher said in his eulogy.
"But George, the lionheart, was dressed with the cross on his chest and ready, awaiting his master's return."
Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, a longtime friend, said the prelate was a "Christian warrior" and a "saint for our times".
Cathedral dean Fr Don Richardson praised Pell's "remarkable legacy", while the Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher called him a "brave leader".
Coming from a modest background, George Pell rose through the ranks of the Catholic Church higher than any Australian before him. In 2014, he was tasked with eradicating corruption from the Church as the Vatican's secretary for the economy.
Although he was cleared by the courts, a separate investigation pointed to his disregard for claims of sexual abuse during his rise to the Australian Catholic Church.
02/02/2023 09:56:17 - Sydney (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
