Australia's Tony Abbott praises Pell at funeral
STORY: He added: "In short, he’s the greatest Catholic Australia has produced and one of our country’s greatest sons.”
Hundreds attended the funeral service for Australian Cardinal George Pell inside Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral on Thursday (February 2), including Abbott and John Howard, as well as federal opposition leader Peter Dutton.
Pell died at the age of 81 last month from heart complications after a hip surgery.
He spent 13 months in prison after being convicted for sexually assaulting two choir boys in the 1990s.
After he was acquitted in 2020, Pell lived in Rome and had several meetings with Pope Francis.
A separate inquiry found Pell was aware of child sex abuse by at least two priests in the 1970s and 1980s and failed to take steps to get the priests removed.
Pell will be buried in the crypt at St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, Australia, where he previously served as archbishop.
