Cardinal George Pell and formerly the Vatican’s top finance minister, has died aged 81.
Pell was the former Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney before becoming the Secretariat of the Economy for the Vatican in 2014, regarded as the third highest position in the hierarchy. It was the highest position ever held by an Australian.
Pell is reported to have died due to complications from hip replacement surgery, according to Vatican news outlet EWTN.
The current Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, said the news was a “great shock to all of us.”
“Please pray for the repose of the soul of Cardinal Pell, for comfort and consolation for his family, and for all of those who loved him and are grieving him at this time,” he wrote on Facebook….