Cardinal George Pell, Pope Francis’ former finance minister, is to soon return to the Vatican during an extraordinary economic scandal for the first time since he was cleared of child abuse allegations in Australia five months ago, a church agency said yesterday.
Pell is to fly back to Rome today, CathNews, an information agency of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference said, citing “sources close to” Pell.
Pell’s return follows Francis last week firing one of the cardinal’s most powerful opponents, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, over a financial scandal.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Pell was regarded as the third-highest-ranking Vatican official and was attempting to wrestle the Holy See’s opaque finances into order when he returned to Australia in 2017 to clear himself of decades-old allegations of child sex abuse.
Pell became the most senior Catholic to be convicted of child sex abuse crimes. He served 13 months in prison before the High Court of Australia acquitted him in April of molesting two choir boys in the late 1990s when he was archbishop of Melbourne.
In his first television interview after his release, Pell linked his fight against Vatican corruption with his prosecution in Australia.
The interview was conducted in April by Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt, a vocal champion of Pell who reported the news early yesterday of his return to the Vatican.
The Sydney Archdiocese did not respond to The Associated Press’ request for comment on Pell’s plans, but Katrina Lee, Pell’s close friend who is an executive adviser to the archdiocese, told Reuters that “he always intended to return to Rome.”
She confirmed the Herald Sun report, but said she did not know how long Pell was going for or the aim of the trip.
In the television interview, Pell said he did not have evidence of a link, but he suspected that a man who swore he had been sexually abused by Pell as a 13-year-old choirboy had been “used.”
Pell again seemed to hint at a link in a statement on Saturday to the Catholic News Agency in which he “thanked and congratulated” Francis for firing Becciu.
“I hope the cleaning of the stables continues in both the Vatican and Victoria,” he said, referring to his home state, where he was convicted.
Pell, 79, said in April that he planned to return to Rome when the COVID-19 pandemic allowed him to pack up his apartment, but he intended to make Sydney his home.
Becciu said he was fired after Francis told him that documents from the Italian financial police alleged that he had embezzled 100,000 euros (US$116,200).
Becciu, the 72-year-old former No. 2 in the Vatican’s secretariat of state, denied any wrongdoing.
Becciu’s name had previously been caught up in a whirlwind financial scandal involving the Holy See’s investment in a London real- estate venture.
Additional reporting by Reuters
THE TRAGEDY OF PUNCH: Footage of the seven-month-old Japanese macaque has gone viral online after he was rejected by his mother and formed a bond with a soft toy A baby monkey in Japan has captured hearts around the world after videos of him being bullied by other monkeys and rejected by his mother went viral last week. Punch, a Japanese macaque, was born in July last year at Ichikawa City Zoo. He has drawn international attention after zookeepers gave him a stuffed orangutan toy after he was abandoned by his mother. Without maternal guidance to help him integrate, Punch has turned to the toy for comfort. He has been filmed multiple times being dragged and chased by older Japanese macaques inside the enclosure. Early clips showed him wandering alone with
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday said he did not take his security for granted, after he was evacuated from his residence for several hours following a bomb threat sent to a Chinese dance group. Albanese was evacuated from his Canberra residence late on Tuesday following the threat, and returned a few hours later after nothing suspicious was found. The bomb scare was among several e-mails threatening Albanese sent to a representative of Shen Yun, a classical Chinese dance troupe banned in China that is due to perform in Australia this month, a spokesperson for the group said in a statement. The e-mail
TENSIONS: The march went ahead without clashes, but arrests were still possible as police investigate suspects behind Nazi salutes, racist slurs and homophobic insults Thousands of people on Saturday marched in southeastern France under heavy security in tribute to a far-right activist whose killing, blamed on the hard left, has put the country on edge. The crowd — many wearing black and some covering their lower faces with masks — marched through the city of Lyon carrying flowers and placards bearing pictures of Quentin Deranque and the words: “justice for Quentin” and “the extreme left kills.” The 23-year-old died from head injuries following clashes between radical left and far-right supporters on the sidelines of a demonstration against a politician from the left-wing France Unbowed
‘OCCUPATION’: Hong Kong said it had lodged ‘stern protests’ with Panama’s consulate, and would ‘staunchly support’ the rights and interests of Hong Kong companies Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino on Monday ordered the temporary occupation of two ports run by a unit of CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd following the Supreme Court’s ruling against the firm’s concession, escalating a dispute that has become a proxy battle between the US and China in Latin America. Mulino said in a speech that the administration and operation of the two ports on the strategic Panama Canal is to revert to the country’s National Maritime Authority to ensure their uninterrupted, safe and efficient operation. The occupation covers movable equipment at the ports and does not mean a definitive loss of
RSS