Vatican holds funeral for cardinal who decried Francis’ rule

By FRANCES D’EMILIO
Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Australian cardinal who decried the papacy of Pope Francis as a “catastrophe” is receiving tributes including from the pontiff himself at his funeral in St. Peter’s Basilica. Cardinal George Pell died last week, shortly after 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. Then he went to Australia to be tried on child sex abuse charges and served a year in prison before being acquitted. As is customary for the funerals of cardinals, Pope Francis was delivering the final prayers at Saturday’s ceremony.