VATICAN CITY
The Telegraph (United Kingdom)
Cardinal George Pell, Australia’s most senior Catholic, has criticised the Pope on his last day, describing his historic resignation as destabilising, while questioning his political prowess.
Cardinal Pell, Australia’s representative at next month’s secret conclave to elect a successor, said Benedict XVI was a “brilliant teacher” but “government wasn’t his strong point” in a candid interview on the eve of the pope’s departure.
“I think I prefer somebody who can lead the Church and pull it together a bit,” Cardinal Pell said.
He pointed to the so-called “Vatileaks” scandal, in which Benedict’s butler leaked secret papal memos revealing intrigues between rival groups of cardinals, though he said it was “very easy to be wise after the event”.
“I think the governance is done by most of the people around the Pope and that wasn’t always done brilliantly. And I’m not breaking any ground there – this is said very commonly,” Cardinal Pell added in a later radio interview from the Vatican.
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