Right after Pell died, it was revealed that he was the author of a memo that lamented the current papacy as a “disaster” and a “catastrophe.”
The Australian cardinal who decried the papacy of Pope Francis as a “catastrophe” was given a funeral Saturday in St. Peter’s Basilica, with the pontiff imparting a final blessing for the once high-ranking Vatican prelate.
Cardinal George Pell, 81, died Tuesday, shortly after undergoing hip surgery in a Rome hospital. As the Vatican’s finance minister for three years, Pell had been a key player in the early years of Francis’ papacy, whose goals included reforming the Holy See’s finances, which had a long history of scandals and poor management.
Pell later returned to his native Australia to be tried on child sex abuse charges over allegations that he molested two choirboys while he was archbishop of Melbourne. He served a year in solitary confinement before an earlier court conviction was overturned in 2020.
As is customary for funerals of cardinals, a final blessing, delivered in Latin, in the form a prayer for mercy and eternal rest, was recited by Pope Francis.
The funeral Mass itself was celebrated by an Italian cardinal, Giovanni Battista Re, in his role as Dean of the College of Cardinals.
Right after Pell’s death, it was revealed that the cardinal was the author of a memo that had been circulating for many months. In the memo, Pell had lamented that the current papacy as a “disaster” and a “catastrophe.”
Separately, the day after Pell died, a conservative magazine published what it said was an article by the cardinal decrying as a “toxic nightmare” Francis’ determination to sound out Catholic laity on such issues as church teaching on sexuality and the role of women.