VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter
Joshua J. McElwee | Jul. 2, 2014 NCR Today
The group of cardinals advising Pope Francis on reforming the Catholic church’s central bureaucracy has again focused its attention on the church’s sometimes controversial financial practices, ahead of the expected resignation of the head of the so-called Vatican bank.
The Council of Cardinals, a group of prelates appointed by Francis last year as a sort of advisory “kitchen cabinet,” is meeting Tuesday-Friday at the Vatican .
This week’s meeting, the group’s fifth, was anticipated to include discussion on a wide reshaping of the Vatican bureaucracy, known as the Roman Curia. But a press release from the Vatican on Wednesday focused mostly on financial matters and the Bank, an independent institution known formally as the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR).
News reports in recent days have indicated that the bank’s chairman, Ernst von Freyberg, will be leaving as early as next week. Unknown is whether von Freyberg is leaving willingly or has been asked to step down.
The bank, Vatican spokesman Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi said in statement Wednesday, “is in a time of natural and peaceful transition.
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