Clergy Abuse Survivors, Church Staff Reach Agreement To Display Ribbons

Clergy abuse survivors have reached an agreement with St Mary’s Cathedral to display ribbons on the church’s fence for George Pell’s funeral.

The compromise comes after church staff initially removed the ribbons from the church’s fence.

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It’s understood negotiations on the ribbons’ placing are ongoing, with Simon Hunt telling the Guardian he is “trying to negotiate with police”, believing the church do not want the ribbons in the same shot as Pell’s coffin.

Ballarat abuse survivor Paul Auchettl invited the public to join him at 7.30am at the cathedral, in a silent event “using ribbons to amplify the voices of survivors and victims of child sexual abuse”.

“I don’t want to be disrespectful at George’s funeral, I want him to have a peaceful service. But I want to alert people that there is this unfinished business that he was still yet to do and that, in a sense, he has failed,” Mr Auchettl said in a statement.

“I want the church to recognise that clergy abuse and related suicides have created secondary victims – usually family members.

“We can’t even talk about this, it’s taboo, it’s too difficult, people are so angry. Yet this is what happens in this sorry story, we’re shut down. The ribbons become a way of saying ‘we need to know about these stories.’”

Meanwhile, the NSW supreme court will hear the case filed by police, seeking a court order to shut down protests planned outside Pell’s funeral on Thursday.

Sydney-based campaign group Community Action for Rainbow Rights planned to march on the street outside the cathedral to denounce Pell’s long-held opposition to same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ rights.

Police told the group on Tuesday they intended to seek a court order prohibiting the protests.

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