Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican power who dismissed sexual abuse, dies

FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis talks with Cardinal Angelo Sodano as they arrive to attend a consistory at the Vatican February 13, 2015. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Cardinal Angelo Sodano, a controversial Vatican power broker for more than a quarter of a century who was accused of covering up one of the Catholic Church's most notorious sex abusers, has died at the age of 94.

Sodano, who had been ill for some time and died on Friday night, was secretary of state under two popes -- John Paul II and Benedict XVI -- holding the number two post in the Vatican hierarchy for 16 years between 1990 and 2006.