AUSTRALIA
The Age
April 6, 2014
Cardinal George Pell’s performance as the first Vatican financial tsar will be a factor in whether Pope Francis maintains popularity during his second year.
Attendances at Francis’ weekly audiences are more than twice as numerous as those of his two predecessors, but some observers suspend judgment awaiting action on matters such as clerical child abuse. If the Pell era means an end to financial scandals – and there is little excuse if it doesn’t – it could help persuade the sceptical that Francis is steak as well as sizzle.
The cardinals who elected Francis agreed that the stench of scandals from the central administration, the Roman Curia, had to be eliminated. The financial shenanigans and leakage of documents from the Pope’s study was confusing, but one thing was clear: the Italians, with their fierce turf wars, were the protagonists. Francis has now selected Pell to clear up the money.
Some commentators make it sound as if Pell’s job will be to pistol-whip shifty Italian functionaries on the grounds that Italians have no idea of Anglo-Saxon financial probity. But as there have been no Italian bank collapses or home-financing scandals as in the United States and England, some Italians consider Anglo-Saxon finance irresponsible.
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