The Australian cardinal who decried the papacy of Pope Francis as a “catastrophe” was given a funeral Saturday in St. Peter's Basilica, with the pontiff imparting a final blessing for the once high-ranking Vatican prelate.
Cardinal George Pell, 81, died on Jan. 10, shortly after undergoing hip surgery in a Rome hospital. As the Vatican’s finance minister for three years, Pell had been a key player in the early years of Francis’ papacy, whose goals included reforming the Holy See's finances, which had a long history of scandals and poor management.
