Cardinal George Pell's body will lie in state at Sydney's St Mary's Cathedral today, as ribbons symbolising the hurt caused by child sexual abuse are tied to its exterior.
A requiem mass and private funeral service will be held tomorrow at the cathedral where Cardinal Pell once served as the Archbishop of Sydney.
Australia's highest-ranking Catholic died age 81 from heart complications during hip surgery in Rome last month.
His casket was driven down College Street in the CBD followed by clergy members and family, before it was carried into the cathedral.
A dispute between NSW Police and LGBT activists over a rally coinciding with Cardinal Pell’s funeral has been resolved after the route of a peaceful march was altered.
The group, Community Action for Rainbow Rights (CARR), planned to hold a march from Hyde Park alongside St Mary's Cathedral on Thursday morning.
NSW Police said they held concerns for public safety and applied to the state’s Supreme Court for an order prohibiting the event.
During the court hearing, barrister Sebastian De Brennan, representing NSW Police, said an “in principle agreement” for an alternative route had been reached, which went “up to College street but not on it”.
This morning, coloured ribbons were tied to a fence near the front doors of the cathedral, in an event organised by Ballarat man and abuse survivor Paul Auchettl.
He says the ribbons are not a protest aimed at Cardinal Pell, but a reminder of the church's "unfinished business" and debt to victims and their families.
"Families are still very much hurting," he said.
"I've come to Sydney to tie ribbons for people who are too sick to be here, and who aren't alive anymore, and for their families who are too angry to be here."
Mr Auchettl said many devout Catholic families had lost their children and were now stuck in a "spiritual wasteland" after being ostracised from their communities.
"We need to recover them."
He said ribbon tying at the cathedral in his hometown in Victoria, where paedophile priest Gerard Risdale preyed on children, had made it a "central point" for support.
"We're not being disrespectful to the service," he said.
"We are just highlighting that there is a lot of unfinished business. And what we need to be able to do is open the door so that people can feel comfortable with talking about their experience, their loss."
Mr Auchettl believes in order to properly honour someone, you have to "be able to talk about the good and the bad in their lives".
Amity Lynch said she doesn't know anyone who suffered abuse by clergy, but still became overwhelmed with emotion when she arrived.
"I thought it was a really beautiful way to remember and acknowledge the people whose lives have been so affected by George Pell and others in the Catholic Church," she said.
"As soon as I pulled out the first ribbon I just started crying, I hadn't expected that."
Sydney man Allan said while he was not a Catholic, he decided to visit Cardinal Pell lying in state "out of respect".
"I think, basically, he was a good man. He made mistakes, but a good man nevertheless," he said.
Mourners can pay their respects from 9:30am, while there will be masses for the late cardinal at 1:10pm and 8pm respectively.
The Archdiocese of Sydney has also commissioned a live webcast showing today's proceedings.
