Hundreds of people gathered Thursday in front of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, Australia, to protest during the funeral of Australian Cardinal George Pell, a controversial figure who was convicted in 2019 of committing sexual abuse against minors and, was later acquitted of the charges.
The protest has been called by the group Community Action for Rainbow Law and, according to the protesters, is expected to spread to other parts of the city as the ceremony for the cardinal’s death progresses, as reported by the newspaper ‘The Sydney Morning Herald’.
With this march, the organization seeks to attack the cardinal’s position on equal marriage and women’s rights, while denouncing the failure to protect minors from sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.
Shortly before arriving in the vicinity of the cathedral, the demonstrators gathered near the Archibald Fountain in the center of Sydney. There they asked to «remember the children» who were abused.
Among those attending the funeral was former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who described the cardinal as a «saint of our time» although he harshly condemned the abuses.
Pell, who was former Vatican treasurer between 2014 and 2019 and was Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic cleric, became the highest-ranking church figure jailed for child abuse.
The cardinal, who maintained his innocence to the end, spent thirteen months–from February 2019 to April 2020–in Australian jails before being cleared of child abuse charges by the High Court of Australia.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
