Pope Francis' former secretary of the economy, Australian cardinal George Pell, will leave for Rome on Tuesday, September 29, for the first time since his acquittal in Australia in a pedophilia case, a few days after the sidelining of 'a powerful Vatican prelate.
Read also: Pedophilia: the Vatican “welcomes” the acquittal of Australian Cardinal Pell
Sentenced in 2019 to six years in prison for rape and sexual assault dating back to the 1990s, Mr. Pell, now 79, was finally acquitted in April on appeal, for the benefit of the doubt, by the highest Australian jurisdiction.
He was released in the wake, after a year behind bars.
Back to Rome for a "private" trip
Katrina Lee, adviser to the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and friend of the cardinal, told AFP that he would head to the Italian capital on Tuesday for a “
private
”
trip
.
He has not been there since leaving Australia in the summer of 2017. "
He always said he would return to Rome at some point,
" Lee told AFP.
Asked if she knew the purpose of this trip, she replied, “
Not completely, but if I did, I wouldn't be free to say it.
"
The return of Cardinal Pell to Rome, which will have all the flavor of a revenge, will come a week after the Pope dismissed one of the Vatican's most influential cardinals, the Italian Angelo Becciu.
He was forced to resign Thursday by Pope Francis, who received him for about twenty minutes to tell him that he was suspected of "
embezzlement
" by investigators.
Read also: The fall of Cardinal Angelo Becciu makes the Vatican shudder
The name of Angelo Becciu has been mentioned many times in the context of an explosive investigation, launched a year ago, into opaque financial arrangements to buy a building in the chic Chelsea district of London.
The purchase procedure had started in 2014 when Bishop Becciu was still at the Secretariat of State, the central administration of the Holy See deciding for this investment.
“
The Holy Father chose to clean up the Vatican finances.
He has a long-term strategy and is to be thanked and congratulated on recent developments,
”Cardinal Pell wrote in a statement sent to the US Catholic News Agency on Friday.
Known for his grip and his knowledge of economic affairs, Cardinal Pell was appointed in 2014 by Pope Francis to head an unprecedented Secretariat of the Economy, responsible for controlling Vatican finances and spending in the various administrations of the Holy -Seat.
“
In the months leading up to his departure (for Australia), Mr. Pell had a conflict with Mr. Becciu.
The bottom line was that they had two different visions of how the Denarius of Saint Peter should be managed,
”explained Franca Giansoldati of the daily Messagero.