Pope Francis cuts George Pell and two other cardinals from Vatican council

Australian Cardinal George Pell and two other cardinals have been removed from a Vatican council tasked with reforming the Catholic Church.

Cardinal George Pell has been removed from an informal council at the Vatican.

Australian Cardinal George Pell has been removed from the Vatican’s inner circle of advisers by Pope Francis.

The Vatican said Wednesday that Francis in October had written to Chilean Cardinal Javier Errazuriz, Congolese Cardinal Laurent Mongengwo and Australian Cardinal George Pell thanking them for their five years of service on the so-called Group of Nine, or C-9.

Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, who at age 79 recently retired as archbishop of Kinshasa.

Cardinal Pell is facing prosecution for historical sexual offences in Victoria. He denies the charges.

Francis appointed the C-9 in 2013 to help him reform the Vatican and reorganise its bureaucracy. That work is wrapping up, with the finalising of a new document outlining the work and mission of the various congregations that make up the universal government of the 1.2 billion-strong church.

A statement from the Vatican press office noted that the cabinet members asked Francis in September to reflect on the future composition, structure and work of the C-9, taking into consideration especially the advanced ages of some of its members.

Though he has been away from Rome since announcing his leave of absence in June 2017, Pell technically remains prefect of the Vatican’s economy secretariat.

The Pope was shedding advisers ahead of a high-stakes Vatican summit on abuse early next year.

Errazuriz, 85, has been accused by Chilean abuse survivors of having covered up for predator priests while he was archbishop of Santiago, a charge he has denied.

Pell, 77, took leave from his job as the Vatican’s economy minister to stand trial in Australia on historic charges of sex abuse, which he denies.

Francis himself was criticised after he strongly defended a Chilean bishop accused of covering for the country’s most notorious predator priest - a position he took apparently on the advice of Errazuriz.

After Francis realised his errors and apologised, he summoned the presidents of all the world’s bishops conferences to Rome for a three-day meeting in February to discuss protecting young people from paedophiles.

That summit has taken on enormous weight given the eruption of the scandal in the US. The Vatican said the three cardinals wouldn’t be replaced on the council.