2 Pell is Pope Francis' chief financial officer. Australian police charged a top Vatican cardinal on Thursday with multiple counts of historical sexual assault offenses, a stunning decision certain to rock the highest levels of the Holy See. Cardinal George Pell, Pope Francis' chief financial adviser and Australia's most senior Catholic, is the highest-ranking Vatican official to ever be charged in the church's long-running sexual abuse scandal. And he vowed to help end a rash of suicides that has plagued church abuse victims in his Australian hometown of Ballarat. The charges put Pope Francis in a thorny position.

Source: India Today June 29, 2017 01:34 UTC