This possibility is “clearly ruled out,” Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews said on Thursday. He could imagine “nothing more painful” for people who have been victims of sexual abuse than such a state funeral, Andrews stressed. At the same time, he offered his condolences to Pell’s family, colleagues and friends.
The cleric, who died in Rome on Tuesday at age 81, was for many years ranked number three in the Vatican under Francis and the highest-ranking cleric in the history of the Catholic Church to be convicted of child abuse. However, in 2020, Pell was acquitted on appeal after serving approximately 13 months and released from prison.
The Cardinal was a former Archbishop of Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, and of Sydney, the capital of neighboring New South Wales. A state funeral is excluded in both states, the Australian news agency AAP reports. The body will be flown from Rome to Australia in the next few days. A funeral service is reportedly planned at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney. Pell will then be buried in the church’s crypt.
The case for which Pell was tried in his home country dates back to 1996-97, when he had just become Archbishop of Melbourne. After a service he is said to have passed on two choirboys who were 13 years old at the time. Pell had denied the allegations. Australia’s highest court upheld the appeal in April 2020 due to lack of evidence. After 13 months, Pell was surprisingly released – and returned to the Vatican a few months after his release in the middle of the corona pandemic. (SDA)