• Pell died in Rome aged 81.
• He was the highest-ranking Catholic imprisoned for child sexual abuse.
• The victims and survivors of institutionalized child sexual abuse will never be forgotten.

Sydney: An Australian state leader said on Thursday that a taxpayer-funded memorial for Cardinal George Pell would be “deeply distressing” for sexual abuse survivors.

Pell, who died in Rome aged 81, was a towering figure in the Catholic Church. Where he had been accused of molesting two teenage choir boys while archbishop of Melbourne.

He was the highest-ranking Catholic imprisoned for child sexual abuse before his convictions were overturned on appeal. He was born in Victoria and was once celebrated within the state.

On Thursday, Premier Daniel Andrews declared that Pell’s legacy had become permanently tarnished.

The victims and survivors of institutionalized child sexual abuse committed by the Catholic Church will never be forgotten, Andrews told the media.

According to the official news website, Pell passed away on Tuesday as a result of heart problems brought on by the hip surgery he had the day before in a hospital in Rome. According to church officials, his body will be brought back to Australia and interred in the crypt of Sydney’s St. Mary’s Cathedral.

In a telegram, Pope Francis praised Pell for his “dedication to the gospel and to the Church,” noting that he “followed his Lord with determination even in a time of trial.”

Pell voluntarily traveled back to Australia in 2016 to answer charges that he had molested two choirboys in their early teens in the 1990s.

In 2019, he was sentenced to six years in prison and registered as a sex offender. He was imprisoned for a year before the Australian High Court.

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