Melbourne: A court in Australia on May 1 ruled that Cardinal George Pell, the country’s most senior Catholic cleric and one of Pope Francis’ advisers, will stand trial on a number of sexual offence charges.

Melbourne magistrate Belinda Wallington, however, struck off most serious cases against the 76-year-old cardinal.

The cardinal was impassive throughout the hearing, report agencies.

He denied all charges and vowed to fight the charges. “Not guilty”, the top aide to Pope Francis said loudly and without hesitation when asked his plea, a stance he has taken since first being charged last year.

Wallington said she was “satisfied” there was enough evidence for a conviction on “multiple” charges with a directions hearing due May 2 to discuss a trial date.

Pell, who entered the court surrounded by a large police presence, was released on bail on the condition he does not leave Australia. He has already handed in his passport, the court heard.

The former Sydney and Melbourne archbishop has been on leave from the Vatican, returning to Australia to fight the allegations which relate to incidents that allegedly occurred long ago.

The exact details and nature of the claims remain confidential, other than they involve “multiple complainants.”

Lisa Flynn, a lawyer who has represented hundreds of abuse survivors in civil litigation claims in Australia, said the ruling proved no one was above the law.

“This is a promising step forward for victims of sexual assault,” she said and added, “The charging of Pell for these alleged crimes reinforces that people should be and are treated equally in the eyes of the law.”

Pell’s case has coincided with an Australian national inquiry into child sexual abuse, ordered in 2012 after a decade of pressure to investigate widespread allegations of institutional pedophilia.

The commission spoke to thousands of victims and heard claims of abuse involving churches, orphanages, sporting clubs, youth groups and schools.

Pell appeared before it three times, once in person and twice via video-link from Rome over the Church’s handling of complaints against pedophile priests.

Australia’s Catholic leaders have previously spoken out in support of him, describing Pell as a “thoroughly decent man.”

The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne on May 1 said Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart would be making no comment.

But it added that “Archbishop Hart expressed his confidence in the judicial system in Australia and said that justice must now take its course”.

Pell was one of the pope’s most trusted aides, handpicked by him in 2014 to make the church’s finances more transparent.

Among the charges thrown out of court was an allegation Pell abused a complainant during a screening of the film Close Encounters of a Third Kind at a country Victorian cinema.

Charges alleging Pell had continued to abuse the same complainant over a 12-month period at a church and another location were also struck out.

“The most serious offending alleged could not have occurred in the time frame alleged,” Wallington said. “I find that the evidence of a whole is not of sufficient weight for a jury to convict.”

Wallington also struck out another charge centered on an incident at a swimming pool after she found the complainant was an “unsatisfactory witness.”

“His lack of recall was often a non-responsive way of avoiding answering questions,” she told the court. “It is difficult to see how a jury can convict on the evidence of a man who said he can’t recall what he said a minute ago.”

Wallington said the complainant represented one of the rare instances when a witness’ “cavalier attitude” to giving evidence meant “no jury can put weight upon it”.

Pell arrived by car in front of the downtown court where more than 40 uniformed police officers were waiting to maintain order as media jostled on the crowded sidewalk to videotape and photograph him.

Pell climbed the stairs to court accompanied by his lawyer Robert Richter about 45 minutes before the hearing was to begin. Some protesters shouted as he arrived.

The court decision follows a four-week long pre-trial committal hearing in March during which more than 30 people were cross-examined by the defense. The charges committed for trial will be dealt with by Victoria’s County Court.