“I’m happy today because Pell has been charged but Anthony’s not here to see it. It’s just really, really sad,” Mrs Foster said.

“What I know is that he would have thought it was right and just that it’s going to the courts and he would have argued strongly that Pell deserves a fair hearing like anyone else.”

Anthony Foster died suddenly on May 26, aged 64, after two decades of fighting the Catholic Church with his wife after two of their three daughters were sexually abused by a notorious Victorian priest.

One of their daughters committed suicide and a second suffered serious and permanent injuries after she was hit by a car.

In her book, Hell on the Way to Heaven, Mrs Foster wrote about their first meeting with the then Melbourne Archbishop George Pell in October, 1996, and a later meeting where they discussed the devastating impact of the abuse on their daughters with Pell.

In 2008 Mr and Mrs Foster unsuccessfully attempted to see Pope Benedict in Sydney during World Youth Day, and in 2016 they flew to Rome to sit with survivors of abuse during Cardinal Pell’s testimony to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse from the Quirinile Hotel.

Mr Foster was honoured with a state funeral for his work supporting survivors of child sexual abuse and supporting the campaign for a royal commission. 

Mrs Foster applauded Victorian police for their investigation.

“There’s been complaints by different people and from different places and it’s right that Pell should answer these allegations in a court,” Mrs Foster said.

She said she would keep an open mind about Pell returning to Australia to answer the charges, but noted his failure to return to Australia to give evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in March last year, despite making a commitment, under oath, to do so.

The Blue Knot Foundation, which represents child abuse survivors, acknowledged Anthony Foster in a statement after Cardinal Pell was charged.

Blue Knot Foundation head of research Dr Pam Stavropoulos said the charging of George Pell with historical sexual abuse offences sent a powerful message not only to survivors of child sexual abuse but to the whole of society.

“It upholds that no one is above the law, no matter how high their office, qualifications, or standing,” Dr Stavropoulos said.

“As well as the impacts of the abuse itself, countless survivors of child sexual abuse have struggled with the silence and disbelief of society that adults and respected public figures can be perpetrators of the criminal act of sexual abuse of children. The charging of George Pell is an enormously important step for community awareness which has been hard fought for and which cannot now be lost.

“While the charges have yet to be tested in court, the act of the laying of them is enormously important at both practical and symbolic levels.

“We at the Blue Knot Foundation are sorry that Anthony Foster - who died a short time ago and who was a tireless advocate for accountability of the Catholic Church for the sexual abuse crimes, of which his own children were victims - did not live to see this day.”