Cardinal George Pell looked “ashen and grey” last month, according to a priest testifying at an Australia inquiry into child sex abuse.
Fr John Walshe told a royal commission hearing about a lunch at Cardinal Pell’s apartment in Rome in November.
“I couldn’t get over how poorly he looked when I saw him last month,” Fr Walshe said.
“He’d put on a lot of weight, he’s not moving very well, and I just thought his general demeanour was very grey . . . he was very ashen and grey.”
Cardinal Pell’s appearance at the commission has been deferred until February.
Royal commission head Justice Peter McClellan accepted medical evidence that it would be unsafe for the cardinal to travel on a long-haul flight to Melbourne.
Cardinal Pell has said the symptoms of a long-standing heart condition had recently worsened.