'Cleanskin' Pell Tips Lay Help to Run Vatican

By Tess Livingstone
The Australian
April 15, 2013

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/cleanskin-pell-tips-lay-help-to-run-vatican/story-e6frg6nf-1226620298653

LAYMEN and laywomen with professional expertise could be invited to take on more prominent positions, including leadership roles, in the Vatican bureaucracy, Australia's cardinal George Pell said yesterday.

"Professional men and women with expertise in areas such as finance, for example, could have a lot to offer in overseeing some Vatican departments, perhaps under the leadership of a cardinal," he said.

Cardinal Pell, 71, is one of eight cardinals appointed by Pope Francis to a permanent advisory group to help him run the Catholic Church and reform the curia.

The appointment, announced on Saturday, shows that Cardinal Pell, a strong supporter of Pope John Paul II and a friend of Benedict XVI, has been recognised for his talent and energy by the new pontiff. The two have served together on several Vatican bodies.

Former Australian ambassador to the Holy See Tim Fischer said Pope Francis had moved quickly to select a "cabinet of cardinals of advice".

Mr Fischer said the group "notably included just one Italian and deservedly included Cardinal Pell, with real experience, especially on the financial and management structural front".

Most of the cardinals promoted to the group are "cleanskins" from outside the Vatican. Besides Cardinal Pell, they include Italian cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Vatican City state administration, Francisco Javier Errzuriz Ossa from Chile, Oswald Gracias from India, Reinhard Marx from Germany, Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya from Congo, Sean Malley from the US and Oscar Maradiaga from Honduras.

The Vatican press office said the Pope got the idea from the pre-conclave meetings.

"He has formed a group of cardinals to advise him in the governing of the universal church and to study a revision of the apostolic constitution Pastor Bonus on the Roman Curia," it said.

Cardinal Pell was honoured by the appointment. The group will meet in Rome from October 1 and Pope Francis will be in regular contact. It is not known if they will have access to a top-secret review prepared last year following the "Vatileaks" affair.