Lawyers defending Cardinal George Pell on historical sexual offences have requested documents from ABC journalist Louise Milligan and Melbourne University Press relating to a book about the senior Catholic published last year.

The book written by Milligan called 'Cardinal: the Rise and Fall of George Pell' was voluntarily removed from Victorian bookstores after Cardinal Pell was charged in July.

The request for documents was made during a hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court today.

The 76-year-old is facing multiple charges of historical sexual offences involving multiple victims after an investigation by Victoria Police's SANO Taskforce.

Cardinal Pell has strenuously denied any wrongdoing.

He was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1966 and served in various roles in regional Victoria, before becoming Melbourne's Archbishop in 1996.

He set up the Melbourne Response program for victims of abuse by Catholic priests within the Melbourne archdiocese and became Archbishop of Sydney in 2001.

Since 2014 he has been at the Vatican in Rome where, in his role as Secretariat for the Economy, he is the third-most senior-ranked Catholic official.

A year ago he gave evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Abuse about abuse by other priests.

Pope Francis has granted him a leave of absence to fight the charges.

Few details of the case can be reported for legal reasons.

Cardinal Pell will face a four-week committal hearing next March.

Editor's note: On Tuesday April 7, 2020, the High Court in a unanimous decision upheld Cardinal Pell's appeal and quashed his convictions on all five charges.