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Cardinal George Pell, a onetime financial adviser to Pope Francis who spent 404 days in solitary confinement in his native Australia on child sex abuse charges before his convictions were unanimously overturned, died Tuesday in Rome. He was 81.
Vatican news agency EWTN reported that his death on Tuesday was due to complications from hip replacement surgery.
Pope Francis paid tribute to Cardinal George Pell, praising his diligence in reforming the Vatican’s finances and his faith “even in the hour of trial.”
In some ways, the outspoken, brawling conservative Catholic from Victoria was better suited to his adopted home in Sydney.
Personal adviser to the Pope, holder of the Vatican purse strings, this 'Aussie bulldog' is feared, respected and plotted against in the marbled halls of the Vatican.