The commission wrote to tens of thousands of Victorian parents at some 100 schools last week.

The letter, from CEC chief executive Stephen Elder, claimed that the Greens' education policies would result in less funding for Catholic students and potentially higher school fees.

The letter also warned that the Greens would stop religious exemptions for employment in Catholic schools.

Principals and school leaders have contacted the Greens, saying that they will not pass on Mr Elder's letter.

One Catholic principal said it was not the role of a school to tell parents how to vote.

"I respect the adults in our school community to make up their own mind about who to vote for," he told The Age.

"I didn't see the point in us telling parents how to vote.

"I am sure they have made up their own minds already."

The Greens have called on the commission to send another letter to families correcting its "misleading comments".

The Greens accused the commission of ignoring the best interest of students and Catholic teachings.

Senator Nick McKim said the Greens' policies on asylum seekers, global warming and the environment were more consistent with Catholic teaching than the major parties' policies.

The senator suggested Mr Elder's letter was motivated by his close association with the Liberal Party.

Mr Elder stood by what he stated in the letter.

He said the Greens would strip funding from non-government schools and repel religious exemptions for employment

He added that the Greens had ignored his requests to clarify its education policies.

Australia's federal election is on July 2.

Sources

• The Age
• Image: Sky News

The Pope fielded a question on the topic during a press conference on his flight to Rome from Armenia on June 26.

Francis offered to have a commission after he was questioned at a recent meeting with the superiors of women's religious orders.

On the papal plane on Sunday, Francis expressed surprise and some annoyance at the magnitude of the reaction to his decision.

"The next day, it was as if the Church had opened the door to women deacons, but that's not true," he said.

Francis added that the commission's primary role will be to ascertain the role of female deacons in the early Church.

"I believe this theme has been studied a lot, and it won't be difficult to shed light," the Pope said.

More important, Francis said, is making sure the voices of women are heard in decision-making processes.

"Women think in a different way than us men, and you can't make a good or correct decision without hearing women," he said.

The Pontiff said he's committed to trying to boost the role of women theologians in the Vatican.

But he noted that effort is presently on hold.

It is awaiting the absorption of the Pontifical Council for the Laity into a new department.

This department will be dedicated to laity, the family and life.

Francis dealt with several other topics at the press conference.

Among these were the Church saying sorry to homosexual people, the role of a retired pope, and his use of the word "genocide" during his visit to Armenia.

He briefly mentioned the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union.

Sources

• Crux
• Catholic News Agency: Full text of Pope Francis's in-flight interview
• Image: Associated Press

British campaigner Peter Saunders said the idea of the panel was suggested by commission head Cardinal Sean O'Malley.

Mr Saunders was encouraged to resign from the commission after he questioned Pope Francis' commitment to reform.

But Mr Saunders said he is only on a "leave of absence".

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Sr Carmen Sammut, the president of the International Union of Superiors General (IUSG), also said sisters globally would be better equipped to carry out their work if they could become deacons.

"We are already doing so many things that resemble what a deacon would do, although it would help us to do a bit more service if we were ordained deacons," she said.

Last week, at an IUSG meeting at the Vatican, Pope Francis agreed to set up a commission to look at the women deacons issue.

The Vatican was quick to say that the Pope, in doing this, was not intending that women should be ordained as deacons or priests.

Sr Sammut, a Missionary Sister of Our Lady of Africa, said the commission should include both sexes and should have a global perspective.

"Sometimes decisions are made here in Rome and it's not only that they're only men — no women — but also the other cultures are not very much included," Sr Sammut said.

The IUSG, the Maltese sister said, also aims to have more say in decision-making in the Catholic Church.

This includes challenging the way leadership is tied to being a cleric and therefore excluding women.

"It's not just a question of feminism, it's a question of our being baptised, that gives us the duty and the right to be part of the decision-making processes," said Sr Sammut.

Women religious have felt empowered under the papacy of Francis, she added.

This has allowed them to "walk with more courage" in what can often be a dangerous vocation in some parts of the world.

Sources

• Religion News Service
• Women's Ordination Conference
• Image: Women's Ordination Conference

Francis was asked during a meeting with leaders of female religious congregations about women deacons and their role in the early church.

The Pope responded that he had spoken about the matter some years ago with a "good, wise professor" who had studied the use of female deacons in the early centuries of the Church.

Francis said last Thursday that the professor had told him that female deacons had helped the early Church, particularly in baptising women.

This was when the practice of Baptism at the time called for full immersion of the person's naked body in water.

But Francis said it remained unclear to him what role such deacons had, so he agreed with the sisters that it would be a good idea to set up a commission to look at the issue.

Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi, SJ, later said Pope Francis did not say in his remarks that he intends to introduce the ordination of women deacons and even less the ordination of women as priests.

Many historians have said that there is abundant evidence that women served as deacons in the early centuries of the Church.

According to a report in UK Catholic Herald, Francis told the congregational leaders he would get the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to tell him if there had been studies on the matter.

In 2001, the International Theological Commission, which advises the CDF, issued a document which concluded that female deacons in history were not "purely and simply" equivalent to permanent deacons.

The commission spoke of the unity of the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

But it also mentioned a clear distinction between the ministries of the bishop and the priests on the one hand and the diaconal ministry on the other.

At the meeting with congregational leaders, Pope Francis said women could not preach at Mass because the priest is serving "in persona Christi" and should therefore give the homily.

He promised that the Congregation for Divine Worship would send the congregational leaders a full explanation of this.

Sources

• The Tablet
• National Catholic Reporter
• Catholic Herald
• Vatican Radio
• Image: Catholic Sun

According to an Associated Press report, Peter Saunders said the members of the 17-person Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors asked him to step aside, with one abstention.

This was after the commission reportedly concluded it could no longer trust him to work within the scope of the commission's mandate.

Mr Saunders wanted the commission to intervene immediately in individual cases, rather than just craft long-term policies to fight abuse.

He has also been highly critical of the Vatican's slow progress in taking measures to protect children and punish bishops who covered up for abusers.

On Saturday, Mr Saunders told reporters he was "blindsided" by the Vatican's announcement of his "leave of absence" and said only the Pope could make him leave the commission.

The Vatican had stated that Mr Saunders would take time "to consider how he might best support the commission's work".

Commission head Cardinal Sean O'Malley said in another statement that the group had asked Mr Saunders to advise them on possibly creating a victim/survivor panel to help with their work.

Mr Saunders said the Vatican's inaction in the face of continuing cases of children being raped and molested "made me lose faith in the process and lose faith in Pope Francis".

Last week, Mr Saunders told The Times in London that that he had asked the Pope to appear at a three-day meeting of the commission in Rome to defend his record.

He told the paper: "It will be outrageous if he doesn't attend and I will say so."

Mr Saunders had been especially critical of the Pope's appointment of Chilean Bishop Juan Barros to the Diocese of Osorno.

Bishop Barros was accused of covering up an abusive priest, his mentor Fr Fernando Karadima, and even witnessing abuse.

Bishop Barros denies the allegations.

One of Karadima's victims, Juan Carlos Cruz, joined Mr Saunders on Saturday in Rome in hopes of speaking to the commission, but was refused.

Mr Cruz also hoped to deliver letters to the commission or to Francis from the clergy and people of Osorno.

Sources

• Associated Press
• The Guardian
• National Catholic Reporter
• Daily Mail
• Catholic Herald
• Los Angeles Times
• Crux
• Image: The Guardian

Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston told a press conference in Rome that some prelates were still reluctant to deal with the problem openly.

"It would be perilous for us, as leaders of the Church, to consider that the scandal of clergy sexual abuse is for the most part a matter of history and not a pressing concern here and now," Cardinal O'Malley said.

"It's not a pleasant topic. It's easier just to ignore it and hope it will go away (but) when we are defensive and secretive, the results are disastrous," he said.

Cardinal O'Malley heads the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

Earlier this month, Pope Francis sent a stern letter to bishops around the world ordering them to cooperate as a matter of priority with the commission.

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The Commission for the Protection of Minors, which Pope Francis established in December, will also have more representatives from other countries and disciplines.

Irish abuse survivor Marie Collins is already a member of the commission, headed by Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston.

The commission is now awaiting the Pope's approval of members' latest efforts as they aim to lay out a pastoral approach to helping victims and prevent future abuse.

Ms Collins told media that the group has agreed on its provisional statutes and finalised a list of potential new members.

She also said that the commission has created working groups that will focus on priestly formation, accountability and reaching out to survivors.

The commission met for the third time at the Vatican on October 4-5.

Getting input from survivors is "essential" for an appropriate, effective and compassionate response to the crisis, said Mark Vincent Healy, one of six abuse survivors who met Pope Francis at the Vatican in July.

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An 11-member commission, announced on Saturday, will seek to "simplify the (annulment) procedure, making it more streamlined, while safeguarding the principle of the indissolubility of marriage", the Vatican said.

The commission is made up of canon lawyers and theologians and will be chaired by Msgr Pio Vito Pinto, dean of the Roman Rota.

The Vatican statement added that "the work of the Commission will start as soon as possible".

Its goal will be "to prepare a proposal of reform of the matrimonial process, with the objective of simplifying its procedure, making it more streamlined, and safeguarding the principle of the indissolubility of matrimony".

An annulment, formally known as a "decree of nullity", is a ruling that a marriage was not valid in the first place according to Church law.

This is because certain pre-requisites, such as free will, psychological maturity and openness to having children, were lacking.

In the past decades many Catholics have complained that the procedure is too complicated, costly and archaic.

Most annulments take place at the local diocesan level.

Each decision must be reviewed by a second tribunal, a step reformers say is superfluous and should be eliminated.

Flying back from World Youth Day in Brazil last year, Pope Francis told reporters that the annulment process needs to be reformed and streamlined.

On Friday, the Pope warned against "codifying the faith in rules and instructions".

But some commentators said this appeared to allude to a theological skirmish between senior cardinals on the question of Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried.

"Faced with so many pastoral requirements, faced with the requests of men and women, we run the risk of becoming afraid and of turning in on ourselves in a fearful and defensive manner . . . ," the Pope said.

"This fear leads to the temptation to be self-satisfied and to clericalism, to codify the faith in rules and instructions just as was done by the Pharisees, the scribes and the doctors of law in Jesus' time . . . ."

"It is not the Pope's job to offer a full and detailed assessment of contemporary reality, but he invites all the Church to grasp the signs of the times . . . ," the Pope added.

Sources

• The Telegraph
• Reuters
• Irish Times
• Vatican Radio
• Catholic News Service
• Image: Mental Healthy

The commission's president, Maltese economist Dr Joseph Zahra, is already an auditor of the Vatican's budget management office.

The other members come from France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Singapore. The sole female is Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, a public relations and communications executive for Ernst & Young in Italy.

Pope Francis said the aim is "the simplification and rationalisation of the existing bodies and more careful planning of the economic activities of all the Vatican Administrations".

This is to include avoiding misuse of economic resources, improving transparency in purchasing goods and services, refining the administration of goods and real estate, and working with "greater prudence" in the financial sphere.

Cardinal Wilfred F. Napier of Durban, a member of the Council of Cardinals for the Study of the Organisational and Economic Problems of the Holy See, said the Pope told the cardinals he wanted a study group to come up with ways the Vatican could better manage "what, why and how" monetary resources are being used by the different offices and entities.

The South African cardinal told Catholic News Service the biggest problem is the lack of a "unified finance controller and policy" in the Vatican.

He said some offices work together and some are independent when it comes to budgeting and oversight. The patchwork approach means "no one knows what's going on" in the big picture.

Coming from an Anglo-Saxon culture, he said he is used to a budgeting approach that involves the allocation of a set amount of resources along with a review of how the resources were used and why.

However, he found the method of accounting being used at the Vatican seemed to involve simply calculating annual profits and losses, and comparing those figures to past years.

"For us it's a bit strange. It doesn't seem normal," Cardinal Napier said, but until now no one at the Vatican seemed to understand why he and other cardinals found that odd.

Sources:

L'Osservatore Romano

Vatican Information Service

Catholic News Service

Image: Di-ve

This was "Pope Francis' personal choice. It strays from the usual dynamic through which these decisions are taken," a Vatican official speaking under the condition of anonymity told Catholic News Agency.

"The appointment of the commission," explained the official, "is in order to understand if the Institute for Religious Works fulfills the mission of the Church in its current structure, or if it needs to be reformed."

The possibility of a reform, or even of an abolition of the Institute for Religious Works — as the bank is formally known — was raised during the pre-conclave meetings of cardinals in March.

"Among other things, observers say the move indicates that Francis intends to take a personal interest in the bank as opposed to relying on others to make decisions in his name," wrote National Catholic Reporter correspondent John Allen.

"Observers say it's too early to know precisely what reforms might result, but it appears to suggest openness to changes that go beyond the merely cosmetic."

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told new media that "the appointment of the pontifical commission is part of the process of thinking about a more general reform of the Curia" and also "in view of the meeting of the commission of eight cardinals in October 1-3."

The five members of the new commission are retired Vatican archivist Cardinal Raffaele Farina (chairman); Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue; Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts; Monsignor Peter Bryan Wells, assessor for the Secretariat of State, who will serve as secretary to the new commission; and Mary Ann Glendon, a Harvard Law School professor and former US ambassador to the Holy See.

Sources:

Catholic News Agency

Vatican Information Service

National Catholic Reporter

Image: CBC News

Observers consider it is significant that the commission includes only one prelate currently serving in the Vatican — Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Vatican city-state — and does not include the current Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

The commission includes members from all five continents, but none of the cardinals who head major congregations or pontifical councils.

The other members are: Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, who will co-ordinate the effort; Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, the retired Archbishop of Santiago de Chile; Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay, India; Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich, Germany; Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo; and Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley of Boston, United States.

The Vatican announcement of the commission said the Pope was "taking up a suggestion that emerged during the general congregations preceding the conclave".

National Catholic Reporter correspondent John Allen has observed that curial reform is only the second task of the commission.

"The first is to advise the Pope on decisions about the universal church, meaning there's almost nothing that falls outside its purview.

"To invoke parallels from secular governments, this isn't a blue-ribbon commission assembled to handle a single task, like reforming social security or recommending military base closings. This is more akin to a cabinet, a body to advise the chief executive on almost everything that comes across his desk."

Allen noted that Cardinal Rodríguez has "crossed swords with Vatican potentates", and Cardinal O'Malley has found fault with Cardinal Angelo Sodano for referring to criticism of the Church's record on sex abuse as "petty gossip",

He also says both Cardinal Monsengwo and Cardinal Gracias have argued for greater latitude for both local churches and regional conferences of bishops.

Sources:

Vatican Insider

National Catholic Reporter

Image: Il Servizio Petrino