• Cardinal George Pell passes away at the age of 81.
• He was convicted of sexually abusing two boys in 1990.
• The former Vatican treasurer is the most senior church official ever imprisoned.

At the age of 81, Cardinal George Pell passed away. His conviction on allegations of child molestation stunned the Catholic Church before it was overturned.

The former Vatican treasurer is the most senior church official ever imprisoned for such offenses and the highest-ranking Catholic cleric in Australia.

Before becoming one of the Pope’s senior advisors, he held the positions of Archbishop of Sydney and Archbishop of Melbourne.

He was given the responsibility of managing the Vatican’s finances in 2014.

Cardinal Pell resigned from his position in 2017 and moved back to Australia to stand prosecution for alleged child sex abuse.

In 2018, a jury concluded that he had assaulted two boys in the 1990s while serving as Melbourne’s archbishop.

Cardinal Pell, who consistently insisted on his innocence, was imprisoned for 13 months before the High Court of Australia overturned the decision in 2020.

After being released from detention, he went back to Rome and last week, he went to the burial of Pope Benedict XVI.

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