Patrick Coyne: ‘Ex Cathedra’

Ex Cathedra
In memory of His Eminence the late George Cardinal Pell AC

From conviction in the absolute
Of truth
To final appeal transcendental
Be not afraid

Pallium of lambswool consecrated
Crozier gilt with innocence and censed
To stultify temptations wasting
Of the flock

Scarlet galero now to hang
Atop the quire of his See
Not at the hand of baying mob
But congregation resolute
Whose faith was not to flee

Vestigial remnants come to lie
Encrypted ’neath the Altar’s eye
Vermillion tassels
knotted
fade above

Mighty frame degrades below

The ways
upwards, downwards
Are the same

Be not afraid

Patrick Coyne