A choir of voices has begun lauding Cardinal George Pell for cleaning up the Vatican’s money management operations. And the strongest notes in this hymn of praise come from the basso profondo of the Australian cardinal himself. The 73-year-old Pell, who is officially the prefect of the Vatican’s recently created Secretariat for the Economy, gave Read more
The Vatican’s murky finances have been spotlighted again by economy secretariat head, Cardinal George Pell. Late last week, at a news conference, Cardinal Pell said hundreds of millions of euros had been found, squirrelled away in various Holy See departments. The millions did not appear on the Vatican’s statements of financial position. Pell was quick Read more
Pope Francis has sent a special message of condolence to the family of former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, who died last month. The letter was read at a memorial Mass in Rome to honour the former Labor leader. In the message, it was noted that the Pope personally prayed for Mr Whitlam after hearing Read more
Australian Cardinal George Pell has laid out what he sees as the tasks for Catholics leading up to the 2015 synod on the family. They are explaining “the necessity of conversion, the nature of the Mass”, and “the purity of heart the Scriptures require of us to receive Holy Communion”. The cardinal wrote this in Read more
A senior German cardinal has emphasised that Church doctrine can change over time. Speaking at a press briefing last Friday, before the synod on the family delivered its final report, Cardinal Reinhard Marx said the Church’s doctrine can develop. “Saying that the doctrine will never change is a restrictive view of things,” Cardinal Marx said. Read more
Some of the Church’s senior prelates have been sharply critical of the document released half way through the synod on the family. The text – known as the relatio –sought to summarise the discussions at the gathering so far. It has been described as a “pastoral earthquake” and suggests the Church should recognise the good in unions Read more
The Vatican buys 500 packages of cigarettes a month, according to a new report on its financial affairs. In a letter to Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, an official of the Vatican governate reported the purchases. Cardinals serving at the Vatican have been receiving a 20 per cent discount on Read more
Momentum is building at the synod on the family for a change in the language the Church uses in its teaching on sexuality. But that doesn’t mean a change in Church doctrine, two leading cardinals have said. “Everybody wants to show God’s love and mercy, but it also brings you to very difficult situations and Read more
The Vatican’s financial situation was not well understood for years by the committee that was supposed to oversee it. That was what the prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, Cardinal George Pell, said at a function in Rome last week. Cardinal Pell recalled how he sat for several years on a 15-member committee of Read more
In bureaucracies everywhere, when someone’s interests are threatened by a cycle of reform, one time-honoured resistance strategy is to dig up dirt on the reformers. For maximum effectiveness, the dirt should be related to a brewing crisis in which people are tempted to shoot first and ask questions later. Whatever its supernatural claims may be, Read more