Three people detained as protesters, mourners trade barbs at Cardinal Pell’s funeral

Sydney, Australia
CNN
—

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

The cardinal’s funeral was held at St Mary’s Cathedral and police had been compelled to intervene as protesters gathered to confront mourners.

His funeral was attended by former Australian Prime Ministers Tony Abbott and John Howard. Abbott paid tribute to the late Cardinal Pell throughout his eulogy, describing him as a “soldier for the reality” and a “saint for our time” in a speech that was met with applause.

Exterior, police separated supporters of Pell from individuals protesting a memorial to the cardinal, who was convicted of child sexual abuse earlier than the ruling was overturned in 2020.

Tons of of protesters gathered exterior the cathedral after Australian police dropped a courtroom bid to dam the demonstration. Speeches towards Pell and the Catholic Church had been made in a close-by park, with some individuals holding placards and chanting “George Pell go to hell”.

Three individuals, two males and a lady, had been detained exterior St Mary’s Cathedral, New South Wales police mentioned in a press release. Police mentioned no fees have been filed towards them.

Joseph Samarasinghe, one of many mourners who attended the funeral, advised CNN: “We are able to study from our errors. And I feel that now the church is extra conscious of all of the errors that the clergy have made. So I feel we’re headed in the precise path.”

In the meantime, Kim Stern, an organizer of the protest, mentioned they might proceed to struggle towards every thing Cardinal Pell stood for till there was “full equality” in Australia.

“To the politicians, the judges, the individuals of the political institution who’re attending the funeral at this time, we need to ship a message that we intend to struggle towards every thing that the Catholic Church and Pell stood for. And hold preventing till there may be complete equality on this nation,” he mentioned.

Cardinal Pell was the highest-ranking Catholic official to be convicted of kid sexual abuse earlier than the conviction was overturned in 2020. He died final month aged 81.

Born within the regional metropolis of Ballarat, Australia, on June 8, 1941, Pell rose by the ranks of the Roman Catholic Church to turn into Vatican Treasurer, thought-about by many to be the third highest place within the church.

He held this position from 2014 to 2019 Pope Francis‘ monetary reforms that largely stalled when he was recalled to Australia to face allegations of historic intercourse abuse.

Pell was convicted of the costs in 2018 and served 13 months in jail earlier than the Excessive Court docket of Australia overturned his conviction in April 2020.

The cardinal is a divisive determine in Australia and plenty of took to Twitter to precise their assist for victims of kid sexual abuse.