George Pell has died.

Press PLAY below to hear the latest 

The news is being widely reported by correspondents from the Vatican.

Pell, 81, had undergone what had been described as “minor” surgery for his hip.

Pell served as the Archbishop of Melbourne then Sydney between 1996 and 2014, and was made a Cardinal in 2003.

In 2018 he was found guilty of various sexual offences, before being acquitted by the high court in September 2019.

Australian Baptist minister Tim Costello told Bill McDonald reaction to the Cardinal’s death will be mixed but he is choosing to grieve.

“All of our lives at the end deserve the eye of pity, to honour what we’ve done well, to say, ‘Yes, none of us actually got it all right’, and I think that’s how I feel about Cardinal George Pell, one of the most influential, if not the most influential Australian Catholic leader in our lifetime.”

Press PLAY below to hear Rev Costello’s comments in full