Cardinal George Pell's enemies quietly accused him of having a child with a secret lover while living in his hometown in country Victoria during the 1970s.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal Cardinal Pell's enemies have long claimed he had a secret love child with a church employee while living in Ballarat as a young priest between 1973 and 1983.
In 2014, three years before Australia's most senior Catholic was charged with child abuse offences, reporters had been briefed by some of those enemies in the hope of bringing the Cardinal down.
A young George Pell around the time he was based in Ballarat in the 70s and 80s
Cardinal George Pell (pictured) is seen leaving the Supreme Court of Victoria in 2020
A woman claimed George Pell witnessed predatory pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale rape her