Pope Francis pays tribute to controversial cardinal George Pell

Pontiff praises ‘determination and wisdom’ of Pell, who was convicted and acquitted of child sexual abuse

Pope Francis has praised George Pell for his “determination and wisdom” in a statement dedicated to the controversial cardinal after his death at the age of 81.

Pell, who was Australia’s most senior Catholic and was found guilty and then acquitted of child sexual abuse, had undergone a hip operation in Rome and died after a cardic arrest. Days earlier, he attended the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican.