AUSTRALIA
Associated Press
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian police said Wednesday they were a step closer to deciding whether to charge a top Vatican cardinal over allegations of sexual assault dating back decades.
Cardinal George Pell, Pope Francis’ top financial adviser and Australia’s most senior Catholic, has long been dogged by allegations he mishandled cases of clergy abuse when he was archbishop of Melbourne and, later, Sydney. More recently, Pell has faced accusations of child abuse himself when he was a young priest in the 1970s. Pell, who runs the Vatican’s economy ministry, has repeatedly denied all the allegations.
Last year, detectives from Australia’s Victoria state flew to the Vatican, where 75-year-old Pell agreed to be interviewed over allegations of sexual assault, police said.
A police statement on Wednesday said investigators have since received advice from Director of Public Prosecutions John Champion, the state’s top prosecutor, on the sexual assault investigation.
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