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How George Pell launched a series of cutting insults at Daniel Andrews in a scathing speech just a few months ago… and now the Victorian PM will NOT give Australia’s divisive top Catholic a state funeral
- Cardinal Pell died at the age of 81 in Rome, the Vatican confirmed Wednesday
- Prime Minister Andrews said that no state memorial service would be held for the cardinal.
- Cardinal Pell, 81, harshly criticized Andrews in one of his last speeches.
George Pell slammed Daniel Andrews in a fiery speech a few months ago, and the Victorian prime minister has now revealed he won’t give the divisive Catholic a state funeral.
The Vatican revealed on Wednesday that the cardinal had died at the age of 81, after suffering heart complications following hip replacement surgery in Rome.
And on Thursday, Andrews was quick to rule out a state memorial service, saying he couldn’t think of anything “more distressing for the surviving victims than that.”
In one of his last speeches in Australia, the cardinal criticized the Andrews administration, comparing it to the corrupt government of Joh Bjelke-Petersen in Queensland in the 1980s.
The Vatican revealed on Wednesday that Cardinal George Pell had died at the age of 81, after suffering heart complications following hip replacement surgery in Rome.
Andrews was quick to rule out a state memorial service, saying he couldn’t think of anything “more distressing for the survivors of the victims than that.”
In a speech in August at the Sydney-based Catholic liberal arts college Campion, Cardinal Pell lashed out at “bossy baby states” that “overreacted” during the pandemic and closed churches before casinos.
He also criticized the rise of identity politics and cancel culture before suggesting that times were changing “and not always for the better”.
Cardinal Pell said: ‘I don’t think Australian life is rotten at heart, but times are changing, and not always for the better.
“The inevitable royal commission of the future in Victoria could find itself paralleling Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s Queensland in the 1970s and 1980s. Too many Australians were content with the overreaction of bossy nanny states during the Covid crisis, when the churches were closed before the casino.
After his death, Mr Andrews said there would be no taxpayer-funded memorial and that he would not attend the Cardinal’s funeral at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney.
He said: ”I couldn’t think of anything more distressing for the surviving victims.
‘These things are usually offered and no offer will be made.
“I think that would be deeply distressing for all survivors of child sexual abuse by the Catholic Church.
That’s my opinion. And I won’t do that.
Cardinal Pell was accused of sexually abusing two choirboys in the late 1990s when he was Archbishop of Melbourne.
He served 13 months in prison, before being acquitted in 2020 after the High Court overturned his child sexual assault convictions.
Friends of Cardinal Pell have attacked Mr Andrews following his comments.
Greg Craven, emeritus professor of law and former vice-chancellor of the Australian Catholic University, said the aussie: ‘I think Daniel Andrews is an insult in search of a target.
“As far as I know, nobody wanted a state funeral, nobody asked for a state funeral, and I for one hoped he hadn’t been invited to a state funeral.”
Referring to Cardinal Pell’s acquittal, he added: “Prime Minister Andrews always tells us what he respects, but apparently that doesn’t include the rule of law.”
The NSW Premier and fellow Catholic Dominic Perrottet also ruled out taxpayer funding from their state for the funeral.
He said no. There will be a memorial service, which will be held and hosted by the archdiocese, and I just want to say to the cardinal’s family that our thoughts and prayers are with you at this time.”