George Pell funeral: Police ask court to ban protest
February 1, 2023
George Pell is currently lying in state in a Sydney cathedral. Police have sought a court order to prevent protesters from disrupting his funeral.
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Mourners paid their respects to Cardinal George Pell who lay in state in a Sydney cathedral on Wednesday.
The vigil came as police applied for a court order to prevent protesters from disrupting his funeral.
Sexual abuse allegations and strict views on abortion, gay marriage
Once the third-highest ranking cleric in the Vatican, Pell's final years were marked by allegations of sexual abuse along with criticism of his hard-line positions on abortion and gay marriage.
Pell, who spent more than a year in prison before the child abuse convictions were overturned in 2020, died in Rome on January 10. He was 81.
Outside Sydney's St Mary's Cathedral, where his body lies in repose ahead of his funeral on Thursday, sexual abuse survivors have been tying ribbons to the gates as a symbol of solidarity with other victims.
The ribbons have been repeatedly removed by authorities.
The Catholic Church in Crisis
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Safety concerns over protest
The New South Wales Police Force, meanwhile, has turned down an application from the gay activism group Community Action for Rainbow Rights for a permit to demonstrate outside the cathedral on Thursday. The police said the decision was taken over safety concerns.
Police have also applied to the New South Wales Supreme Court to ban the protest.
Deputy Commissioner David Hudson said police couldn't reach a compromise with organizers' protest plans.
"New South Wales Police is not opposed to the topic that the protesters wish to air. We certainly respect the right of people to be able to protest and air their voices," Hudson told reporters.
But a "number of aspects" of the proposed rally "present a risk to public safety," Hudson said.
Justice Peter Garling adjourned the hearing until later Wednesday to allow further talks between police and activists.
Pell was imprisoned in 2019 on charges of sexually abusing two 13-year-old boys, but the conviction was overturned at appeal. The cardinal was also critical of the current Pope, Francis, over the Argentinian's efforts to modernize the Church.
The life of German Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was much respected in his home country of Germany. But criticism mounted after it emerged that he provided false information during an investigation into sexual abuse in the church.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Kappeler
'We are pope'
"We are pope" Germany's leading tabloid Bild said on April 19, 2005 when the College of Cardinals elected 78-year-old Joseph Ratzinger to succeed John Paul II as the 265th pope. Taking the name Benedict XVI, he displayed humility while assuming the papal throne: "The cardinals have elected me, a modest laborer in the Lord's vineyard."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/T. Kleinschmidt
A life by God's side
Born on April 16, 1927, Joseph Ratzinger (at left) grew up during World War II. Early in his life, Ratzinger decided to follow the path of the church, and even as a boy expressed his wish to become a cardinal.
During the war, Ratzinger was required to join the Hitler Youth at the age of 16. Ratzinger later said he left the group as soon as organizers stopped requiring him to attend. He is pictured here in 1943. In 1944, he was drafted into the Wehrmacht. At the end of the war he was briefly held as a prisoner of war by United States forces, but was released in June 1945.
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Priest, professor, pope
Ratzinger studied theology, was ordained in 1952 and became a professor of theology at the University of Regensburg at the early age of 30. Ratzinger was initially seen as a progressive member of the church, but he reportedly became more conservative after the student protests of the late 1960s.
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Influential theologian called to Rome
In 1981, just four years after he was made archbishop of Munich and Freising, Pope John Paul II brought Ratzinger (right) to Rome — appointing him prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, making him the most powerful enforcer of Catholic doctrine. That an academic with limited pastoral experience should rise so high in the church hierarchy was a bone of contention for critics.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Conservative course
Cardinal Ratzinger became increasingly conservative, something he had in common with John Paul II. Advice on the prohibition of abortion, and against contraception and Latin American liberation theology bore his hallmarks. He stayed true to his conservative path throughout his papacy.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
A church in crisis
In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI's lifting of the excommunications of four bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X, one of whom had denied the Holocaust, caused a global outcry. Poor personnel decisions, a lack of ecumenical progress — and above all, the sexual abuse of minors by the clergy, which was covered up for decades — all marred the pope's tenure.
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'Scourge' of sexual abuse
Pope Benedict did try to address the issue of sexual abuse, including reaching out to victims. He described the abuse of minors by priests as a "scourge" that caused "great suffering." Although he did tighten restrictions for training priests, critics accused him of doing too little. Indeed, it was his successor who called the first major crisis meeting on the topic in the Vatican.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Criticism from Germany
On his third visit to Germany in 2011, Benedict XVI was received by adoring crowds, such as here in Erfurt. But the pope also faced harsh criticism: He was accused of ignoring victims' associations in his deliberations and discussions. And his strict refusal to allow Holy Communion to couples of mixed denominations was seen as a rejection of ecumenical values.
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Collision course with Islam
At the Carnival parade in Mainz in 2007, Benedict XVI was depicted driving into a mosque in his "popemobile." The float was an allusion to a controversial statement by the pope, in which he quoted the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos, who said the Prophet Muhammad had brought "only evil and inhumanity" into the world. His choice of words caused a storm of controversy in the Muslim world.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Dedert
Two popes?
Following his resignation in 2013, Benedict XVI pledged to obey his successor, Francis. Yet the pope emeritus did raise his voice again. In early 2020, he published a book in which he argued vehemently against changing the vow of priestly celibacy. Francis had refused to rule out consecrating married men as priests.
Image: Reuters/Vatican Media
Admitting to false testimony
On January 24, 2022, the former pope apologized for providing false information during a probe into sexual abuse in his old Munich archdiocese. His statement read that this was not done "with ill intent," but was an "oversight." Benedict had told an inquiry he had not been present at a 1980 meeting to discuss the case of a pedophile priest who had been allowed to remain in office.