The premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, on Thursday strongly ruled out the possibility of a taxpayer-funded memorial for controversial Cardinal George Pell. 

The 81-year-old cleric was a prominent figure in the Catholic Church and previously celebrated in his home state. He was accused of molesting two teenage choir boys while archbishop of Melbourne, with a conviction that was later quashed.

What did the state leader say?

Victoria's premier Daniel Andrews said the legacy of the cleric — who was also condemned for his failure to address broader sexual abuse inside Australia's Catholic Church — had been permanently tainted.

"We will never ever forget victim-survivors of institutional child sexual abuse at the hands of the Catholic Church," Andrews told reporters.

"There will be no memorial service or state funeral because I think that would be a deeply, deeply distressing thing for every victim-survivor of Catholic Church child sexual abuse."

Pell died of cardiac arrest while in a hospital for hip replacement surgery, the Vatican said.

Why was Pell so divisive?

The cardinal is the highest-ranking Catholic cleric to have been jailed over sexual abuse allegations.

Amid accusations that he molested two 13-year-old choirboys in the 1990s, Pell voluntarily returned to Australia in 2016.

A court sentenced him to six years in prison in 2019, and Pell was registered as a sex offender. 

After he spent a year behind bars, the Australian High Court quashed the convictions on appeal — paving the way for Pell's return to Rome in late 2020.

After Pell's death, Pope Francis praised his "dedication to the gospel and to the Church," and added that he had "followed his Lord with determination even in a time of trial."

The cardinal was Pope Francis' top financial adviser and the third most senior cleric in the Vatican.

Even after his acquittal, Pell's reputation remained tarnished, particularly due to his handling of other priests who abused children and the Church's treatment of victims. 

rc/rs (Reuters, EFE)