Now he's been acquitted and freed from jail, Cardinal George Pell will reinforce the conservative forces within the Catholic Church.
At an early stage in his Australian trial the Vatican said that once it was finished Pell would be tried in the Vatican.
It was evidence the Vatican was taking accusations of sexual abuse seriously and had its own legal (or canonical) system.
When asked on Wednesday if the Vatican had started their investigation into Pell, the Vatican press office replied "the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, together with other competent offices of the Holy See, will now of course evaluate the matter based on the applicable norms of canon law."
If the Vatican decides on a trial, it seems unlikely that it will condemn Pell.
In Brisbane on Tuesday the High Court ruled there was insufficient evidence to convict Pell, quashing five convictions related to his alleged sexual abuse of two choirboys in the 1990s at Melbourne's St Patrick's Cathedral..
In the authoritative US newsletter Crux, John Allen suggested wryly that the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, should write a thank you letter to the Australian High Court chief judge Susan Kiefel for Pell's acquittal.
Allen explained that at least the court's decision saved the Vatican from the possibility of being first with an eventual acquittal for Pell which would have seemed favouring one of its own and oppose it to Australia's justice system.
In his Mass on Tuesday morning, five hours after the acquittal, Pope Francis prayed for all those unjustly sentenced, mentioning Jesus Christ.
It could also be taken as an implied reference to Pell although he was not named.
For decades Pell has been influential and controversial among English-speaking Catholics worldwide and this could continue even if he has no formal position in the Vatican bureaucracy. His influence will be in the public arena.
During his trial, he had considerable support in the US and Canada, spearheaded by American author George Weigel of the Washington Ethics and Public Policy Centre, who claimed the Australian judicial system was on trial along with Pell.
Until he turns 80 in June 2021 Pell is eligible to participate in the election of the next pope. He can be expected to be one of the cardinals seeking a successor to Pope Francis who avoids what they consider his ambiguity on certain doctrines.
Last year, along with two other cardinals, Pell was dropped from the nine-member special advisory body to the Pope.
In January 2020 he was replaced as Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy by a Spanish Jesuit priest. Pell had finished his five-year term there but many considered he had done an honest job.
Pope Francis had appointed the man he called a Ranger (from Forest Ranger) as a new broom in the Vatican's finances which was involved in various scandals.
Pell set about his task enthusiastically but there were clashes which were partly because some resisted his push for transparency and partly because of the abrasive way he did so.
Although they had seemed great mates at the time of Pell's appointment, that was in the past. To quieten things, Francis let Pell go.
However Vatican financial troubles have continued, most recently over its acquisition of a large property in Sloane Square, London.
As a result Pell has supporters in and outside the Vatican who see him as a thwarted hero. For some right-wing journalists, he is a stick with which to beat Pope Francis.
While archbishop of Sydney he was crucial in establishing in Rome the Domus Australia which describes itself as a 'boutique hotel.'
Health permitting, he might return to live there. But wherever he lives, after his ordeal, if no other trials are held against him his voice will be heeded and it is up to him to decide how to use this augmented interest.
Australian Associated Press
