Cardinal George Pell is to be tried on historical sexual assault charges, a court has ruled.

The decision is a massive blow to the Catholic Church as Pell, 76, Australia's most senior Catholic cleric, is treasurer of the Vatican and one of its most powerful officials. Pell is on a leave of absence from his Vatican role, which he started in 2014. The pope has said he will not comment on the case until it is over.

Pell pleaded not guilty to the charges after a magistrate ruled there was enough evidence to proceed on some of the charges against him.

Most of the evidence against him is confidential – standard practice in the state Victoria – but police there say they have heard from more than 30 witnesses.

It is known that one allegation is regarding an incident said to have taken place at Melbourne Cathedral in the 1990s and another involves an incident claimed to have taken place in a swimming pool in Ballarat in the 1970s when Pell was a local priest.

He has denied all the allegations, saying: 'I am innocent of these charges, they are false. The whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me.'

Some charges were dismissed or withdrawn during the hearing, among them allegations made by one man that he had been removed from St Joseph's boys' home and taken to different locations where he was abused. Magistrate Belinda Wallington said records showed the complainant did not live at the home during the period he said the offences occurred.

Pell's lawyer Robert Richter QC has previously said he had been targeted by accusers because he is Australia's most senior Catholic figure.

A date for the trial has not yet been set.