Church in shock after Cardinal Pell dies from heart attack following routine surgery

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Cardinal George Pell has died from a heart attack in Rome following complications after a hip operation.

The former Archbishop of Melbourne and of Sydney and Prefect Emeritus of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy died unexpectedly at 8.50pm as he was recuperating from surgery.

Until that point, the operation was understood to have been considered a success and Cardinal Pell, 81, was conscious and chatting to the nurses caring for him.

Vatican News reported that Cardinal Pell had been suffering from heart problems “for some time” and that he was fitted with a pacemaker in 2010.

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