SW News:

Australian Cardinal George Pell’s funeral will take place on Saturday, January 14, at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. According to a statement from the Holy See on Thursday, the funeral liturgy will be celebrated by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals. 

“At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, the Holy Father Pope Francis will preside over the rite of the Ultima Commendatio and the Valedictio,” the press release said. Cardinal George Pell died from heart complications on January 10 following hip surgery in a Rome hospital. 

George Pell, who was ordained to the priesthood in 1966, served as the archbishop of Melbourne from 1996 to 2001. He was appointed as the archbishop of Sydney in the same year by Pope St John Paul II, where he served for 14 years. 
Pell, who was made a cardinal in 2003, played an important role in successfully organizing the 2008 World Youth Day in Sydney. He was known to be a staunch defender of the Church teachings. 


The cardinal served 13 months in prison over two sexual abuse allegations, which were quashed by the High Court in Australia in April 2020. The court said in its judgment that “there is a significant possibility that an innocent person has been convicted because the evidence did not establish guilt to the requisite standard of proof.”