June 8, 1941 - Born in Ballarat, Victoria
December 16, 1966 - Ordained a Catholic priest
1971-1972 - Assistant priest Swan Hill parish
1973-1983 - Assistant priest Ballarat East parish
1973 - Shared St Alipius presbytery with Gerald Ridsdale (later revealed as Australia's worst pedophile priest) and Monsignor William McMahon
1973-1984 - Episcopal Vicar for Education in Diocese of Ballarat; founding member of Catholic Education Commission of Victoria
1981-1984 - Principal of Institute of Catholic Education (now merged with Australian Catholic University)
1984 - Administrator of Bungaree parish
July 16, 1987 - Ordained as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Melbourne
1987-1996 - Parish priest Mentone, Bishop for the southern region of Melbourne
1988-1997 - Chair of Caritas Australia
May 27, 1993 - Accompanies Ridsdale to his first court appearance. Later says it was a mistake to show priestly solidarity and he did not know full extent of Ridsdale's crimes
June 16, 1996 - Appointed Archbishop of Melbourne by Pope John Paul II
August 16, 1996 - Installed as archbishop
October 1996 - Announces Melbourne Response protocol for handling child sexual abuse complaints in Melbourne archdiocese
March 26, 2001 - Appointed Archbishop of Sydney by Pope John Paul II
May 10, 2001 - Installed as archbishop
April 21, 2003 - Awarded Centenary Medal by Australian government
September 28, 2003 - Elevated to the Sacred College of Cardinals by John Paul II
2005 - Appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia
February 2007 - Appointed to Council of Cardinals on Organisational and Economic Problems of the Holy See
April 2013 - Appointed by Pope Francis to group of eight cardinals to advise on government of the universal Church and study plan for revising Apostolic Constitution of Roman Curia
May 2013 - Gives evidence to Victorian parliamentary inquiry into handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations in Melbourne
February 25, 2014 - Appointed as Prefect for the newly-created Secretariat for the Economy, Holy See
March 2014 - Gives evidence to Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney. The hearing focuses on the legal case of abuse victim John Ellis from Pell's time as Sydney archbishop
August 2014 - Second royal commission appearance via videolink from the Vatican, to Melbourne hearing on the Melbourne Response
February 29 - March 3, 2016 - Third royal commission appearance, via videolink from Rome hotel conference room to Sydney; hearing on church's handling of child abuse allegations in Ballarat diocese and Melbourne archdiocese.
June 29, 2017 - Charged with multiple, historical sexual assault offences, set to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on July 18.
