A preview of the next big scandal?

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Dec 22, 2017

Eighteen months have passed since I predicted that the next Vatican scandal would involve financial affairs.

Is this it? Too soon to tell. But it’s coming.

Pope Francis reportedly learned in May about Cardinal Maradiaga’s high-flying financial affairs. Also in May, the Vatican’s auditor general was forced to resign, and Cardinal Pell, the prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, was granted a leave of absence. Neither has been replaced. I am not suggesting that these events are connected. (We know that Cardinal Pell traveled to Australia to answer abuse charges; we still don’t know why the auditor was forced out.) But just at the time when the Vatican needed people to take a careful look at the financial affairs of the Pope’s top adviser, the people most likely to investigate were removed from the scene. This is not a recipe for reform.