Vatican finance chief Cardinal George Pell faces a crunch hearing starting in Australia Monday to determine if he stands trial on historical sexual offence charges. The 76-year-old, a top adviser to Pope Francis who has taken leave to fight the allegations, is accused of multiple offences relating to incidents that allegedly occurred long ago. Pell, the most senior Catholic cleric to be charged with criminal offences linked to the Church's long-running sexual abuse scandal, has denied all the claims.



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