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George Pell

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pell in 2012

George Pell AC (8 June 1941 – 10 January 2023) was an Australian prelate of the Catholic Church. He became the inaugural Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy in 2014. He was born in Ballarat, Victoria. He was ordained in 1966. He was made cardinal by Pope John Paul II.

He served as the eighth Archbishop of Sydney (2001–2014), Archbishop of Melbourne (1996–2001), and Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne (1987–1996). He was created a cardinal in 2003.[1]

On 29 June 2017, Pell was charged in Victoria, Australia, with multiple historical sexual assault offences, and denied all charges.[2][3] Pope Francis granted him leave to return to Australia to defend himself.[4] Pell was committed to stand trial on the lesser charges, pleading not guilty.[5]

On 7 April 2020, the High Court of Australia found Pell not guilty from his convictions and issued verdicts of acquittal. The Court's said that there was "a significant possibility that an innocent person has been convicted because the evidence did not establish guilt".[6][7][8][9]

On 10 January 2023, Pell died due to cardiac arrest after having hip replacement surgery in Rome. He was 81.[10]

References

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  1. Miranda, Salvador. "Pell, George". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Archived from the original on 2013-12-31. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
  2. "George Pell, Catholic cardinal, charged with historical sexual assault offences". ABC News. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  3. "George Pell: How Italian media reacted to the historical sexual offence charges". ABC News. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  4. "George Pell: Cardinal addresses media after being charged with sexual assault offences". ABC News. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  5. Emma Younger (1 May 2018). "Cardinal George Pell pleads not guilty to historical sexual offence charges after being committed to stand trial". ABC News.
  6. "Pell v The Queen [2020] HCA 12" (PDF). High Court of Australia, 2020 Judgment Summaries. 7 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  7. Pell v The Queen [2020] HCA 12 (7 April 2020)
  8. Davey, Melissa (7 April 2020). "George Pell: Australian cardinal to be released from jail after high court quashes child sex abuse conviction". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  9. Le Grand, Chip (7 April 2020). "Pell to walk free after High Court overturns conviction". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  10. Estcourt, David; Mitchell, Georgina (11 January 2023). "Cardinal George Pell dies, aged 81, after complications from hip surgery". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 January 2023.

Other websites

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