Cardinal Pell, who had sex convictions reversed, dies at 81

Pell had been in Rome to attend the funeral last week of Pope Benedict XVI

Cardinal George Pell, a one-time 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 overturned, died Tuesday in Rome. He was 81.

He was a divisive figure. He lived to see Vatican rivals charged with financial crimes after seeking to reform the church's finances. In Australia, he was a lightning rod for disagreements over whether the church had been properly held to account for historic child sex abuse.

Pell suffered fatal heart complications following hip surgery, said Archbishop Peter Comensoli, Pell’s successor as archbishop of Melbourne. Pell had been in Rome to attend the funeral last week of Pope Benedict XVI.

“For many people, particularly of the Catholic faith, this will be a difficult day and I express my condolences to all those who are mourning today,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Sydney Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher told reporters the death had come as a shock.

“It will be for historians to assess his impact on the life of the church in Australia and beyond, but it was considerable and will be long lasting,” Archbishop Fisher said.

He said a requiem for Pell would be held at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican in the next few days, and in time his body would be brought back to Australia for a funeral mass and buried in the crypt at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney.