Ribbons cut off St Mary’s Cathedral as Cardinal George Pell’s body lies in state

Ribbons tied to a cathedral by sexual abuse survivors and their supporters have been cut down as the body of Cardinal George Pell lies in state inside.

The controversial former archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney died aged 81 in a Rome hospital last month from heart complications which followed hip surgery.

His body has been returned to Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral ahead of a requiem mass and private funeral service to be held on Thursday.

In recent days, a support group for clergy abuse survivors, Loud Fence, has been tying colourful ribbons to the cathedral’s fence as a symbol of solidarity.

But church security has repeatedly been seen cutting them down.

The ribbons tied to St Mary’s Cathedral by sexual abuse survivors have been cut down as the body of Cardinal George Pell is laid to rest inside

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A security officer was seen taking down ribbons that had been tied around the Saint Mary of the Cross statue on Wednesday

One security officer was photographed using a small pair of scissors to remove ribbons tied to the fence on Wednesday, while those supporting the Loud Fence initiative watched on.

The security officer was then seen taking down ribbons that had been tied around the Saint Mary of the Cross statue.

Sexual abuse survivor Paul Auchettl had organised the ribbon-tying protest. His brother was also a victim of clerical abuse, by a priest under the leadership of Cardinal Pell in Ballarat during the 1970s.

Mr Auchettl’s brother ended his life some 25 years ago. 

The 81-year-old former archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney died in a Rome hospital last month from heart complications following a hip surgery

‘I don’t want to be disrespectful at George’s funeral, I want him to have a peaceful service. But I want to alert people that there is this unfinished business that he was still yet to do and that, in a sense, he has failed,’ he said.

‘I want the church to recognise that clergy abuse and related suicides have created secondary victims – usually family members.

‘We can’t even talk about this, it’s taboo, it’s too difficult, people are so angry. Yet this is what happens in this sorry story, we’re shut down. 

‘The ribbons become a way of saying, “we need to know about these stories”.’

Political satirist Simon Hunt, known as Pauline Pantsdown, is actively involved in the protest and has since claimed that Loud Fence and the cathedral have come to an agreement to leave a ‘significant section’ of ribbons on the fence for the Pell funeral. 

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In recent days a support group for clergy abuse survivors, Loud Fence, has been tying colourful ribbons around the cathedral’s fence as a symbol of solidarity

‘There will be further negotiations,’ he tweeted.

Two masses will be held for the Cardinal in the cathedral on Wednesday, with mourners able to enter from 9.30am.

Cardinal Pell was the Vatican’s top finance minister before leaving Rome in 2017 to stand trial in Melbourne for child sexual abuse offences.

The following year, he was convicted of molesting two teenage choirboys in the sacristy of Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral while archbishop in 1996.

He maintained his innocence and in 2020 his convictions were quashed by the High Court.

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People are pictured tying ribbons to the fence outside St Mary’s Cathedral in support of abuse survivors