Cardinal George Pell, a former Vatican finance minister accused of a sex crime in Australia and later acquitted, died Tuesday in Rome at the age of 81, the archbishop of Sydney confirmed.
“It is with deep sadness that I can confirm that His Eminence Cardinal George Pell passed away in Rome in the early hours of this morning. [hora australiana]. This news is a huge shock to everyone,” Anthony Fisher wrote on Facebook.
“Let us pray for the rest of Cardinal Pell’s soul, for the solace and consolation of his family and all those who loved him and are grieving for him at this time,” he added.
The Vatican news agency EWTN reported that his death was due to complications from hip surgery.
Pell was the Vatican’s top finance minister before leaving in 2017 to stand trial in Australia on charges of child sexual abuse.
In 2018, the cardinal was accused of sexually assaulting two teenage acolytes in the sacristy of St Patrick’s Cathedral when he was Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996, but he has always maintained his innocence and the charges were unanimously struck down by the High Court in 2020. .
A few days before his death, Pell had attended the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who passed away on December 31, 2022.
Born in 1941 in Ballarat, Australia, Pell was ordained a priest in 1966, became a bishop in 1987 and a cardinal in 2003, having served as Archbishop of Sydney and Melbourne in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Pell was also treasurer of the Holy See for five years, between 2014 and 2019.
Source: TSF
