Let's remember he has not been convicted.

And I will go a little further. Forgive my cynicism, my conspiracy view. I am not just an Italian, I am a Roman who has seen the filth of Vatican finances up close and personal.

Pell was rocking the boat. He was making a lot of very powerful (and very rich, money disappears on a regular basis from Vatican coffers, recycled and laundered in a number of clever ways) men nervous. These same men (and the vast money they control) could have easily concocted a way for charges to appear in Australia.

Pope Francis has been trying to clean up centuries of curial impropriety. Don't expect the curia to go quietly. Don't assume Pell is guilty.