Australia's most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, has been charged on summons over historical child sexual assault allegations.
Cardinal Pell is currently the Vatican's finance chief.
He has been informed of the charges and strenuously denies them.
He will return to Australia as soon as possible, following advice and approval from his doctors.
He says he is looking forward to his day in court and will defend the charges vigourously.
Australia's most senior Catholic says he is looking forward to finally having his day in court, after a two-year investigation, leaks to the media and "relentless character assassination".
