Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re celebrates the Funeral Mass for the late Australian Cardinal George Pell, as Pope Francis presides over the rites of Ultima Commendatio and Valedicto.
By Amedeo Lomonaco
The Requiem for Cardinal George Pell, governor emeritus of the Economics Secretariat, who died unexpectedly on Jan. 10, was celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday.
In his homily at the funeral, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, stated, “The unexpected end of Cardinal George Pell’s earthly life took us all by surprise.”
The Australian-born cardinal “was present with us for the funeral mass of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in the parvis of the chapel and, despite his 81 years of age, appeared to be in good health.”
Cardinal Pell’s Funeral Mass
Cardinal Pell suffered, but he trusted God
Cardinal Rey then recalled that the last years of the late Cardinal’s life were “marked by unfair and painful condemnation.”
“In June 2017, he was accused of sexual assault in Australia, and the trial resulted in a prison sentence,” he said. Cardinal Pell spent 404 days in the cells of two maximum security prisons, at Melbourne and then at Barwon, including a period of solitary confinement.
Then, Cardinal Dean notes, the Australian High Court acquitted Cardinal Pell in April 2020 by overturning the guilty verdict.
“It was an experience of great suffering that he endured with confidence in God’s judgment,” Cardinal Rey said, saying it provides an example of how unjust punishments can be accepted with dignity and inner peace.
The Cardinal Dean added that faith and prayer have been a source of great comfort and support for Cardinal Pell during those difficult times.
Cardinal Re said, “In order to reveal how much faith and prayer can help us in difficult moments of life and also to support those who must suffer unjustly, Cardinal Re has published a diary he wrote during his long days in prison.”
Cardinal Rey celebrated the funeral mass
God man
Finally, Cardinal Rey affirmed that the late Cardinal was “a man of God and a man of the Church who was distinguished by a deep faith and great firmness of dogma, which he always defended without hesitation and courageously, caring only for the faithfulness of Christ.”
At the conclusion of the Eucharistic celebration, Pope Francis presided over the liturgy of the church Ultima Commendatio And Goodbye.
Pope Francis presides over the last rites
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