CARDINAL George Pell missed delivering his usual Sunday mass at the magnificent Domus Australia in Rome, but he was very much in the thoughts of the small congregation and clearly front of mind among senior clergy of the Catholic Church.

The Very Reverend Terence Bell twice mentioned Pell by name during his delivery of Sunday mass at the Domus which is situated in the middle of Rome, the heartland of the Catholic Church. Pell often gives mass at the Domus, which is the Australian Catholic church’s presence in Rome but he missed this week in preparation for his four day appearance before the Royal Commission via video link this morning.

Reverend Bell said in his opening address that he prayed for Cardinal Pell. Then during the prayers he alluded to the battering the church has received in light of the clergy sexual abuse. He said: “we pray especially for Cardinal Pell, and in particular the future of the Church. The truth will set us free, we must look forward not back.”

But only five people were at the Domus mass to hear and give the prayers for Cardinal Pell.

If turnout for mass at Pells usual church Domus Australia in Rome is any guide, the church is in trouble. 5 people. pic.twitter.com/V4qxVbvbsO — Jacquelin Magnay (@jacquelinmagnay) February 28, 2016

Outside the church, several coloured ribbons had been tied to the window grates, but it was unknown if this was in support of Loud Fence, the support group that has encouraged ribbons on church property to acknowledge the victims of child sexual abuse.

Earlier, the Vatican appeared to want to distance itself from the Australian Royal Commission into church child abuse and Cardinal George Pell’s much anticipated appearance at its public hearings in the Italian capital.

Late on Saturday, the Vatican had not decided who or indeed if they would send anyone officially to support Cardinal Pell as he fronts the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, despite the fact he is the Roman Curia’s chief of the secretariat of the economy and effectively the pope’s number 3.

The Vatican’s official mouthpiece and head of the Holy See press office Father Federico Lombardi, who is fluent in multiple languages notably English, would not comment Saturday about Cardinal Pell’s appearance to give evidence nor whether he still enjoyed the support of the Vatican.

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Then speaking in Italian he described the questions as “rompipalle”, derogatory slang literally meaning “ball breaker” and said he did not understand what was happening tomorrow before the telephone call was abruptly discontinued.

A Vatican press office colleague of his later suggested there may have been an issue with Fr Lombardi’s mobile telephone and hearing of the questions but she also declined to discuss Cardinal Pell and the royal commission.

“There was in the past a communiqué from Cardinal Pell and there is nothing else to add, there is nothing to say so far,” she said.

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When asked if Vatican staff would support the cardinal in person at the hearings she added: “I don’t know, I don’t know, OK have a nice day, goodbye ... we don’t know if the Vatican will be attending, we have no answer to this question.”

Since 2014 there have been Italian sections of the Vatican that have been less than supportive of Cardinal Pell’s style in attempting to clean up the financial books from highly publicised cases of corruption and previous mismanagement of the Curia, the administrator of the Holy See.

The Cardinal, does though have many other supporters and at least a dozen of those are expected to attend tomorrow alongside the Victorian-born 74-year-old including close friend and former Sydney Archdiocese business manager Danny Casey, now working for the cardinal as an aide, as well as possibly the South Australian-born Vatican prelate-secretary Monsignor Brian Ferme.

Another close friend, QC barrister and current Australian Ambassador to the Holy See John McCarthy is also in some capacity likely to attend the hearings, set down for four days from tomorrow at the convention hall at four star Hotel Quirinale in central Rome. Mr McCarthy could not be reached yesterday.

Cardinal Pell is to give evidence specifically on what he knew, as former head of the church in Melbourne and later Australia, of a number of abusing priests who were moved frequently between parishes, notably close friend Father Gerald Ridsdale who was later convicted of being a paedophile and abusing vulnerable boys within his presbytery.

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He has in the past denied any knowledge of child abuse in the church, turning a blind eye to abuse or offering an alleged victim a bribe to drop his claims.

Cardinal Pell though is likely to also want to address allegations the Victorian police have been investigating him for multiple more serious claims of actual abuse. He has already called for an internal investigation into who leaked details of the probe and the claims, both of which he has vehemently rejected in a lengthy written statement.

Cardinal Pell will give evidence between 10pm and 2am local time to coincide with the time difference in Australia.