Rome – Australian Cardinal George Pell has again spoken out about his attempted reform efforts of the Holy See’s finances while he was still head of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy, saying he underestimated those who resisted his decisions.

“I underestimated the ingenuity and resilience of the opponents of reform,” Pell said during a Sept. 23 webinar organized by the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, adding, “they didn’t like change, they didn’t understand what was being proposed.”

There was also “certainly opposition from people linked to corruption,” he said, although he did not give names.

Asked if he would have done things differently in hindsight, Pell said he believes “we made a major mistake when the auditors were fired, and when Libero Milone was sacked.”

Although he said he never approved of these measures, “perhaps I should have pushed farther on that.”

In 2013 Pell was…