Cardinal George Pell, whose abuse conviction was overturned, dies at 81

ROME — Cardinal George Pell who later had convictions against him overturned, has died in Rome at the age of 81.

Pell reportedly had heart complications that proved to be fatal following his hip surgery, Archbishop Peter Comensoli said, according to the Associated Press. Comensoli was Pell’s successor as the archbishop in Melbourne, Australia.

The Vatican is reportedly working on getting a service set up for Pell before his body is returned to Australia, the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, according to the AP. He is expected to be buried in Sydney.

Pell was the third-ranked official in the Vatican once Pope Francis had him help reform the Vatican’s finances. According to the AP, He spent three years as Secretariat for the Economy before returning to Australia in 2017.

Pell went back to Australia for legal reasons - he was trying to clear his name of child sex charges against him from his time as an archbishop, according to the AP.

Those charges dated back to the 1990s, according to The New York Times.

Pell was convicted in Dec. 2018 of five counts of child sexual abuse of two choir boys in 1996. Two years later, Australia’s highest court reportedly overturned the conviction saying there was a chance he was not guilty, according to The Times.

Pell served over a year in solitary confinement before his convictions were overturned, according to the AP.

Pell kept a diary during his time in prison filled with prayers, Scripture reading, and conversations he had reportedly had, according to the AP.

Pell along with his supporters believed that he was “scapegoated” for the crimes of the Australian Catholic Church’s failed response to clergy sexual abuse, according to the AP.

After Pell’s conviction was acquitted, he continued to face a tarnished reputation, the AP said.

Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found that he was reportedly aware of clergy molesting children in the 1970s and didn’t do anything to stop it, according to the AP. Pell said he was shocked by their findings.

Once out of prison, Pell returned to Rome where he remained until his death, said the AP.