Cardinal George Pell will front the Royal Commission into child sex abuse in Ballarat, after he offered to return from the Vatican for the hearing.

The Royal Commission issued a statement this afternoon saying Cardinal Pell had offered to give evidence, and they had invited him to appear at the next set of hearings.

It follows fresh allegations Cardinal Pell had turned a blind eye to child molestation by disgraced priest Gerard Ridsdale, heard by a Royal Commission hearing in Ballarat.

Read more here.