Cardinal Pell, aged 81, died in January 2023 in Rome after a cardiac arrest following a routine hip replacement operation. His funeral was held four days later at St Peter's Basilica.

The funeral was notable for the absence of a traditional open casket, which reportedly surprised Vatican officials.

Recent reports in The Australian suggest that Pell's body was left in disarray after an autopsy, with his clothes haphazardly placed in the coffin, his body not properly dressed and without shoes.

Final insult

Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt, citing a conversation with Pell's brother, revealed that the cardinal's nose was broken upon the body's return to Australia, describing it as a "final insult".

Bolt speculated that the mistreatment might have stemmed from either incompetence or lingering animosity within the Vatican.

"Pell once told me he did not feel safe in the Vatican as he chased the crooks" Bolt stated. "What was done to his body makes me suspect he was right."

Pell a 'ticking time bomb'

However Pell's brother David told The Australian that the family has no issue with George Pell's medical treatment in Rome.

David Pell said George Pell had several serious heart conditions that dated back to the 1990s. He described the cardinal as a "ticking time bomb".

David Pell explained the condition of George Pell's body, saying that he was vested but in an incorrect sequence.

He suggested the Cardinal's nose could have been broken by the lid of his tight fitting coffin which was lined with zinc or, as one medico suggested, that the Cardinal's nose could have been damaged by hospital tubes while nursing staff were trying to revive him.

David Pell said that there was no room for the Cardinal's size 14 shoes to be put on him, but that they were in the coffin.

He said the family decided the coffin not be open at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney because the embalming "was not up to scratch" and by the time of the Sydney funeral his brother would have been dead for three weeks.

David Pell told the Australian that, while a number of his brother's friends urged him to return to Australia for his hip replacement, the family had no say.

"The big boy made up his mind" he said,

Sources

Daily Mail

The Australian

Herald Sun

The Australian

CathNews New Zealand

The Vatican's first auditor-general, Libero Milone, said "At his funeral, at his casket, I promised him that we would seek out the truth".

Milone added that Pell's success in overturning his convictions demonstrated that "some judicial systems are efficient and effective".

Cardinal Pell, a key figure in Pope Francis's financial reform efforts, died on 10 January 2023 at the Salvator Mundi Hospital in Rome.

Pell's unexpected death hours after surgery has raised questions among Vatican observers and close associates.

Several unusual circumstances have fuelled speculation surrounding Cardinal Pell's death:

• The cardinal's casket was closed during the funeral, preventing mourners from participating in the traditional farewell touch or kiss
• Reports have emerged suggesting that internal CCTV cameras at the hospital were not functioning on the day of Pell's death, raising questions about the monitoring of his care
• Additionally, claims have surfaced that no medical doctor was on duty the evening the cardinal died, potentially compromising the level of medical attention he received

Adding to the intrigue, at least two cardinals, close friends of Pell, had urged him to return to Australia for his surgery, expressing concerns about his safety in Rome. However, Pell insisted on staying, determined to address his fellow cardinals in pre-conclave meetings despite being too old to vote.

Sudden and mysterious

Milone shared his concerns as he prepared for an appeal hearing regarding his controversial dismissal in 2017.

Libero Milone is the last surviving member of the high-powered trio that initiated Pope Francis's financial reforms.

Milone and his deputy, Ferruccio Panicco, were abruptly fired in June 2017, just days before Cardinal Pell had to return to Australia to face child sexual abuse charges.

The circumstances surrounding the pair's dismissal were mysterious. Vatican police raided Milone's office and confiscated electronic equipment.

The former auditor-general and Panicco sued the Vatican for wrongful dismissal in 2022, seeking over €9m in compensation. However the Vatican court rejected the claim in January 2024, leading to the current appeal.

Panicco passed away in 2023.

Sources

The Australian

Katholisch

CathNews New Zealand

A product and priest of the rural diocese of Ballarat, he rose to be not only Archbishop of Melbourne but, extraordinarily, Archbishop of Sydney as well.

It was unthinkable then that the Archbishop of Melbourne would be moved to Sydney.

As was said at the time, "It was an insult to both".

It took George Pell to break the mould.

With the move to Sydney he was named Cardinal, which brought with it a further enhancement of his Vatican profile.

This eventually led to his appointment as Prefect of the Secretariat of the Economy of the Holy See, charged with leading the financial reforms begun by Pope Benedict and pursued by Pope Francis.

Then his legal troubles erupted in Australia in circumstances that remain unclear.

Pell became the victim of an outrageous injustice as he was convicted and jailed for 13 months before a final vindication.

The spiritual poise and strength he showed through all of this was extraordinary. It revealed a depth to George Pell that often went unrecognised.

Through his legal troubles, he was identified wholly with the Catholic Church and vice versa.

Pell was the Church, and the Church was Pell - big, powerful and heartless in the eyes of many. Partly this was because, in his public persona in Australia, Pell had presented himself self-consciously as the voice of the Catholic Church.

Those who didn't know him thought Pell heartless and humourless, and his media persona could suggest this.

Yet if George Pell had anything, they were a good heart and a sense of humour. It was a pity that more of this didn't show in his media appearances.

He didn't claim to be a saint; he knew he was flawed. But he did claim - and rightly - to be a man of faith and a man of the Church. He once told me how struck he was by the words on the Roman tomb of Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, Vehementer amavit Ecclesiam (Vehemently he loved the Church).

George said however that he'd prefer on his own tomb, Vehementer amavit Dominum et Ecclesiam (Vehemently he loved the Lord and the Church).

There was nothing bland or half-hearted about George Pell: he was strong, even vehement in his faith, his convictions, his likes and dislikes.

He could be a fierce opponent, unafraid to enter the battle.

At times this could make him seem an ideological warrior, which did not serve him well. It certainly wasn't George Pell at his best.

He was always a polarising figure, stirring strongly contrasting reactions. He had both passionate friends and passionate foes.

In part, this was because his deepest instincts were those of a politician who thrived on opposition and conflict. It was also tied to an apocalyptic view of the world seen as an arena where good and evil, life and death, light and darkness contended.

There wasn't much middle ground for George Pell, not too many shades of grey.

But that he had unusual gifts of leadership is certain - intelligence, courage, conviction, self-confidence, political nous and tenacity among them.

Though he chose a life in the Church, George Pell would have been a leader in any field he had chosen.

It will take time to assess his legacy in the Church in Australia, which will prove as complex, even as contradictory as the man himself.

For now we give thanks for the gifts George Pell brought to us and the challenges he posed.

And we pray that, beyond all the struggles and sorrows he knew, this extraordinary man of faith and of the Church, our brother George, will come now before the Lord of mercy who will say to him simply (as Julian of Norwich predicts for each of us), "Thanks for all you've done".

Eternal rest give to George, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen.

• Mark Coleridge is the Archbishop of Brisbane.