Colourful ribbons that were tied to a fence in honour of abuse victims at the church hosting Cardinal George Pell’s upcoming burial service have been taken down.
Social media posts show ribbons were attached to St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, Australia in the run up to the service on 2nd February. Abuse survivors were encouraged this week to put them along the fence and share photos and videos of them with the hashtag #EveryRibbonHasAVoice.
However, after a few days, many of the ribbons disappeared. According to The Guardian Australia, only one remained on the fence on Wednesday. The newspaper spoke with a woman who began replacing the ribbons. She said: “The way the Catholic Church has treated these individuals is appalling.
“It’s not just George Pell. It’s the whole Church and the whole industry of the Catholic Church. If they believed in God they wouldn’t do and say the things they do”.
Cardinal Pell was acquitted in 2020 of convictions that he sexually assaulted two choir boys in the 1990s.
The appeal court ruling allowed Pell to walk free after 13 months in prison, ending the case of the most senior figure in the Catholic Church accused of historical sex abuse.
He died on 11th January at age of 81. He will be buried at the crypt at St. Mary's Cathedral, where he served as archbishop. On 14th January Pope Francis gave a funeral blessing to Cardinal Pell in a secondary chapel at St Peter’s Basilica.
