Archbishop's sex probe may be called off

Archbishop Pell vehemently denies the sex abuse allegations

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- An inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse by Australia's most powerful Catholic leader, Archbishop George Pell, may be called off after the church refused to fund the complainant's legal costs.

Pell, who has taken leave from his role as Archbishop of Sydney, has been accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy over 40 years ago when he was a trainee priest.

Pell has strenuously denied the allegations saying the accusations are lies.

The complainant's lawyers told CNN Friday that they had applied to the Australian Catholic Church to provide legal funding for the complainant's case, but this had been refused.

Partner Peter Ward from solicitors Galbally and O'Bryan said the firm's client was very distressed by the funding refusal and was now reconsidering whether he would proceed with the case.

The Catholic Church set up the inquiry to hear the allegations after the complainant reportedly refused suggestions by the church that he take the matter through the Australian court system.

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Ward told CNN that Pell would have the best legal representation that money could buy but by refusing funding to his client, there would no longer be a "level playing field".

He said the church's decision seemed to contradict its stated intentions of openly and fairly dealing with accusations of abuse against its clergy.

The church's National Professional Standards Committee, which was established to handle abuse allegations, was not commenting on the funding decision Friday.

Leading role

The inquiry into the Pell allegations has already come under criticism from victims' support groups because under its terms of reference and decision to publish its findings would be at the discretion of the church.

Retired Supreme Court judge, Alec Southwell, has been appointed by the church to run the inquiry, but no starting date or time-frame has been set.

At the time the allegations were made last month, Pell said that he had personally " taken a leading role in condemning and exposing sexual abuse within the Catholic Church in Australia."

He also said he was responsible for setting up "Australia's first Independent Commission to inquire into sexual abuse by members of the Catholic clergy" six years ago.

The Australian Catholic Church has paid out millions of dollars in compensation to victims of sexual abuse and in 1996 it issued a formal apology to victims.

With more than 5 million followers, Catholicism is the single most practiced religion in Australia.

Hush money

Pell has adopted a high media profile on the issue of sexual abuse by clergy, as well as on other controversial issues such as homosexuality, abortion and stem cell research.

He has a reputation for conservatism and fearlessness.

But earlier this year, Pell had to fend off allegations that he had paid "hush money" to victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests.

Pell strongly denied the claims, but it was subsequently proven that some parishes of the church had indeed insisted on "silence" clauses before making compensation payouts to victims.

The Australian church is also battling revelations that an order of nuns paid tens of thousands of dollars to women who claimed they were sexually and physically abused in an orphanage in the 1940s and 1950s.

The Poor Sisters of Nazareth made payments of up to A$75,000 (US$41,400) to 13 women but maintain the payments do not amount to an acknowledgement of guilt.