Share and Follow
A top adviser to Pope Francis and one of the most powerful figures in the Vatican, Pell faced criticism for his response to child sexual abuse allegations within the church and was himself jailed on historical charges in a conviction that was later quashed.
Pell, the highest-ranking Catholic official to be jailed over child sexual abuse allegations, always maintained his innocence but spent more than a year in jail before the High Court overturned the decision in 2020.
Born in Ballarat in 1941, Pell went on to rise through the ranks of the Catholic church, serving as both Archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney before rising to become the third most powerful official at the Vatican.
Read Related Also: Severe storms forecast for large swathe of east coast
The son of an Anglican father and a devout Irish Catholic mother, he spent his early childhood in and out of hospital undergoing operations for for a recurring tumour in his neck but excelled in sport and helped run his family hotel and pub.
He was ordained a Catholic priest in December 1966.His death in January of heart complications following hip surgery was greated with a mixture of tributes and opprobrium.
