Acquitted cardinal Pell back in Rome amid Vatican scandal

Pell, who maintained his innocence throughout, said after he was absolved by Australia's high court that he wanted to clean out his Vatican apartment, but intended to make Sydney his home.

Cardinal George Pell, the former Holy See finance czar who left to face child sexual abuse charges in his native Australia, has returned to Rome after his acquittal to find the Vatican mired in a financial corruption scandal

The 79-year-old Pell arrived at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport on Wednesday after a flight from Sydney wearing a blue surgical mask. He waved briefly to reporters before getting into a waiting car without making any comments. The car did not carry Vatican license plates

It is his first visit back to Rome after he took a leave of absence in 2017 to face historic sexual abuse charges stemming from his time as the archbishop of Melbourne. Pell, who maintained his innocence throughout, said after he was absolved by Australia's high court that he wanted to clean out his Vatican apartment, but intended to make Sydney his home.